Units / ECE5881
ECE5881 · Real-time system design
2026 Handbook6 credit pointsLevel 5Department of Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering
Last checked: 23 Aug 2026 UTCOverview
The unit aims to enable you to understand, analyse, specify, design and test real-time systems using both hardware and software development. Migration between software and hardware will be considered as an approach to meet design criterion such as speed, throughput, energy usage and cost. The design, analysis and implementation of real-time operating systems will be studied and will include scheduling policies, process creation and management, inter-process communication and synchronisation, efficient handling of I/O and communication. You will complete a major team design project that includes hardware and software design of a real-time system.
Offerings
The Handbook publishes no offerings for this unit.
Assessment
The Handbook lists an examination for this unit.
| # | Assessment | Type | Weight | Hurdle |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Programming session: Bus communication and interfacing completion quiz | Quiz / Test | 5% | Threshold |
| 2 | Programming session: Bus control and arbitration completion quiz | Quiz / Test | 5% | Threshold |
| 3 | Programming session: RT scheduling completion quiz | Quiz / Test | 10% | Threshold |
| 4 | Pendulum project completion quizzes | Project | 15% | Threshold |
| 5 | Pendulum project report | Project | 15% | Threshold |
| 6 | Final assessment | Examination | 50% | Threshold |
Continuous assessment: 50% Final assessment: 50% This unit contains threshold hurdle requirements that you must achieve to be able to pass the unit. You are required to achieve at least 45% in the total continuous assessment component and at least 45% in the final assessment component. The consequence of not achieving a hurdle requirement is a fail grade (NH) and a maximum mark of 45 for the unit.
Assessment details may change. Please refer to the assessment information in Moodle closer to the start of the teaching period.
Requisites
prohibitions
- ECE4075 — Real time embedded systems
Learning outcomes
- explain the development process for real-time systems from specification, simulation, implementation and testing
- design and implement interface logic to a bus system and its associated arbitration logic using a hardware description language
- describe the effectiveness and benefits of deploying a real-time operating system in software development of a real-time system
- compare, measure and analyse the performance and overhead of real-time scheduling policies of a real-time operating system
- design and analyse hardware accelerators that improve real-time system performance in areas such as energy use, latency and throughput
- formulate, plan, create, document and test a solution to a real-time system design problem in a team framework using a real-time kernel and a hardware description language.
Workload
The minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of 3-6 hours of scheduled learning activities and 6-9 hours independent study per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher-directed learning, peer-directed learning and online engagement. Independent study may include associated readings, assessment and preparation for scheduled activities.
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