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ECE 576 - Syllabus

TR 9:30-11:45AM, HARV 413

Instructor

Roman Lysecky, rlysecky@ece.arizona.edu
Office: ECE 356F
Office Hours: To Be Determined, or by appointment


Textbooks:

No textbook is required. The following textbooks are used for source material and may be good references.
David Black, Jack Donovan, Bill Bunton, Anna Keist. SystemC: From the Ground Up, Second Edition, 2009.


Overview:

The focus of this course is to provide students with the methods and techniques for supporting engineering design of complex, computer based systems with a focus on Electronic System Level (ESL) design. The coverage of ESL design will highlight the methods and challenges in developing embedded systems that require the tight integration of hardware and software components. In other words, the course will provide an under the hood look into how embedded systems (e.g. your smartphone, vehicle electronics) work.


The course covers many aspects of embedded systems design, from system-level modeling to dynamic runtime optimizations to a brief overview of real-time software systems. The course also includes a in-depth discussion of the simulation and modeling aspects behind SystemC and transaction-level modeling (TLM), providing a detailed look into delta cycle simulation methods (similar to simulations methods used for Verilog and VHDL simulators).

Course Topics:

  • Complex System Design
    • Design methodology and techniques
    • System-level behavioral modeling
    • Transaction level modeling using SystemC
    • Real-time systems
  • Design Synthesis and Integration
    • Design space exploration
    • Model refinement
    • Hardware/software partitioning
    • System-level communication/coprocessor interfacing
  • Performance Evaluation
    • Simulation-based performance evaluation
    • Runtime performance evaluation
    • Profiling techniques
  • Dynamic Optimizations
    • Runtime reconfiguration
    • Dynamic software optimization
    • Dynamic voltage scaling

Grading:

Grading for the class will be performed on an individual basis. You will not be competing with the other students for your grade. If all students do well in the class, it is possible everyone will get an A. Your grade is only dependent on the effort you put into the class.
Letter grades will be assigned using a strict 10% scale: 90% and above corresponds to an A, 80% and above to a B, 70% and above to a C, 60% and above to a D, and less than 60% to an E.
The grading will be based on a weighted sum as follows:
30% - Exams (2)
45% - Project
15% - Homework Assignments (4-5)
5% - Paper Presentation & Participation
5% - Quizzes (3-4)
All grades will be posted on D2L.


Paper Presentations and Participation

Students will be responsible for presenting one of the paper listed on the Lectures page. The paper presentation should be limited to 20 minutes providing a general overview of the problem being addressed in the paper, the presented solution or methodology, the effectiveness of the solution or methodology, and a comparison with alternatives methods, if applicable. Students will also be responsible for participating in the discussion of other papers.

Policies:

Punctuality: Please arrive on-time to class.
Reading: Please be prepared. Read over the material being covered in lecture before coming to class.
Academic Dishonestly: Any academic dishonesty will no be tolerated. Unless otherwise specifically stated by your instructor or teaching assistant, all course work should be done on your own. Please consult the UA Code of Academic Integrity.
Late Homeworks: Late assignment will only be accepted in extraordinary circumstances, e.g., medical emergency.
Regrades: All requests for regrades must be submitted in writing within one week of the distribution of graded material. Problems requested to be regraded will be regraded in their entirety, which could possibly result in a lower score for the requested problem.