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Carnegie Mellon University
Fall 2009
This page is here to help you understand the details of how this course runs. Please read the whole thing at the start of the semester.
Embedded computing applications far outnumber desktop computers, with billions of microcontrollers produced worldwide each year. Embedded systems vary tremendously, from the single 8-bit processor in a thermostat, to high performance processors in a digital camera, to dozens of networked processors in an automobile. Despite this diversity of applications, there are core technology and system-level skills needed by any embedded system designer that form the content of this course. Topics typically covered include embedded computing platforms (hardware, microcontroller instruction sets, software); interacting with the external world (analog I/O, control); system-level engineering (design cycle, architectural patterns); real-time operation (timers, interrupts, concurrency); constraints and optimization (economics, power, size, speed); and a survey of techniques important for building systems that work in the real world (debug, test, robust design, dependability, ethical/societal issues). Weekly hands-on experiences with embedded hardware and software will be used to reinforce core skills.
Coming into the course, we expect you already know the following:
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Course Staff:
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| Teaching Assistants: e-mail: ece348-staff -- at -- ece.cmu.edu
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Attendance and holidays/special needs:
No student may record or tape any classroom, lab, office hour, or other similar course-related activity without the express written consent of the course instructor, Prof. Koopman. If a student believes that he/she is disabled and needs to record or tape classroom activities, he/she should contact the Office of Disability Resources to request an appropriate accommodation.
Also, see our feedback to questions and comments on informal course evaluations from 2007.
This course has weekly lab content that is done as a lab team of two students. We will do our best to honor requests for specific lab partners and lab nights that are made immediately at the start of the semester. However, we must honor the maximum size of any lab section. We will not force uninvolved students to change lab sections to make room for some other requested pairing. Once a lab pair has been created, it is our policy not to dissolve it unless there are exceptional circumstances and the change actively benefits both partners. We will try to avoid groups of size 1 and 3 if at all possible.
Grading will be performed on a "straight scale":
The basis for grades will be out of 100 points total for the course:
Class participation points are at the discretion of the instructor and recitation TA, with attendance being a significant factor. Unless otherwise noted, assignments within each grading category are normalized to be equally weighted regardless of the number of points within each particular graded item (e.g., all pre-labs are worth the same number of course grade points regardless of the number of points in any particular pre-lab assignment).
Late pre-lab submissions and late lab skill demonstrations will be penalized 10% for the first hour late plus an additional 10% of grade for every day late, but compounded in your favor (90% of credit for up to 1 hour late; 81% of credit for late for 1 to 24 hours, 73% 24 hours to 48 hours; 66% 48 hours to 72 hours; using the general formula 0.90N+1 credit where N is the rounded-up number of days late). Don't get behind!
Unless otherwise noted, hand-in deadlines are 9:00 PM. Early pre-lab submissions received by 1:30 PM on the due date will receive a 10% bonus (i.e., total awarded pre-lab grade will be multiplied by 1.10).
If lab partners do not demo together, they will be graded separately for the demo. For example, if one lab partner demos on time and the other demos late, only the late partner will be assessed a late penalty. Lab partners should demo together if both can demo on time.
Many pre-lab and lab assignments will have "bonus" content. The idea behind these assignments is to enrich the experience for and challenge those students who would otherwise spend fewer than 12 hours per week (on average) for the course. Completing these assignments is completely optional! If you don't have time to do them, then don't do them. If you need to improve your grade, in every case we've seen you will be better off spending time understanding the baseline material to get better quiz and test grades rather than chasing these bonus points!! In most cases the value of the bonus points is low compared to the amount of effort required for an average student to earn them. If you are spending too much time on this course, then don' t do the bonus content.
In the event that students submit multiple versions of assignments, the following rules will apply in this priority: (1) the latest version before the early submission deadline will be graded; (2) if there is no early submission, the latest version before the on time deadline will be graded; (3) if there is no early submission and no on-time submission, the latest version submitted at the time the TA performs grading will be graded. If students want some other version to be graded, they must make their intentions known in writing (both via e-mail and a readme.txt in all the relevant hand-in directories) before the on-time deadline. Out of fairness to the TAs and other students, in no case will more than one version of an assignment be graded. Empty or corrupted files will receive no credit (it is the student's responsibility to double-check that handed in files are the version they intend to hand in and are not corrupted by the file transfer process).
If you wish to dispute a grade you must return the assignment along with a succinct written argument within one week after the graded materials have been returned to the class or grade has been posted. All grade change requests require you to hand back in your original graded materials and the written argument to the course managament assistant pending a decision about the grade change, regardless of situation. Please send e-mail to the course staff letting us know you have submitted materials for re-grade to make sure we know to take a look at them.
Exam contents will include: lecture material (both slides and discussion), recitation material (both slides and discussion), pre-lab material, required reading, and lab material.
Lab equipment must be returned within one week of the last class meeting. Students who do not return equipment in a timely manner will be assigned an "I" (incomplete) for the course, with a default grade of "R" if equipment is not returned within 60 days of the "I" being assigned. Students are strongly encourage to work with course staff to deal with any equipment issues. Equipment failures due to normal wear and tear are to be expected; return of nonfunctional equipment or with minor omissions (e.g., a few missing resistor components) is OK so long as students are acting in good faith. Lost or destroyed equipment can be paid for if necessary.
It is the intent that letter grades will be primarily based on the student's ability to demonstrate mastery of the material presented in lecture and covered by labs, with no fixed quota of letter grades. If every student masters the material, then every student will get an A (although that is unlikely to happen).
Due dates and times for assignments are firm. Extensions will not be given unless Carnegie Mellon is officially closed on the day of the due date. You should account for the possibility of problems such as typical facility disruptions, network outages to your off-campus residence, malfunctioning lab hardware, dead CPU modules, compiler bugs, getting a cold, and travel obligations when planning your time, since these are normal and expected occurrances. (All these things happen in the real world too.) No scores will be dropped and no deadline extensions will be given, because (except for exams) you can simply complete work early if necessary. The exam dates are announced at the start of the semester, and we expect you to attend. A note from the office of the Dean of Student Affairs is required for any deviation from standard exam times, extensions of deadlines, or any grading accommodations. If you are too sick to complete work or attend scheduled class functions, an excuse signed by your primary care provider, Health Services, or the office of the Dean of Students will normally be required to grant extensions or other accommodation.
Students will be expected to bring a working writing implement (pen; pencil) and a calculator to all exams and labs. Spare writing implements and spare calculators will not be available. Students are not allowed to share anything during exams (information, physical objects, or even significant glances). Devices with the ability to communicate (e.g., Bluetooth, WiFi, cell phone, texting, infrared data transfer) are strictly prohibited during exams. Devices that are substantively more than calculators (e.g., PDAs, cell phones, anything with an overtly alphanumeric keyboard) are similarly prohibited. This may mean you need to buy a "dumb" calculator for exams if you haven't done that already; they aren't expensive.
Please make sure assignments are legible. Graphing can be done by hand if desired, but must be to scale on graph paper (hand sketches on un-gridded paper are not acceptable). Concise answers are prefered over long rambling essays. In many cases there will be a stated word limit on answers (e.g., "10 words or fewer"); answers not conforming to the word limit will be marked as incorrect. Full and complete sentences are not required when conforming to word count limits. Phrases or bullet point format answers are OK. The ability to express yourself clearly and concisely is a critical engineering skill -- let's get started on that one now.
It is highly recommended that you get an early start on all assignments rather than waiting until the last minute. Labs especially have a way of taking longer than you expect. In the event that are defects in assignments, the lab bug handling policy applies (at a high level, if a change to a lab to fix a problem is released near the deadline, you have the option to take that fix into account or complete the lab as it was before the change). We will go out of our way to avoid indirectly penalizing anyone for doing their work early -- if you think this is happening to you, please let us know so we can make the situation right.
The University Policy on Cheating and Plagiarism applies, as amplified by the below points.
Students are not permitted to reference any notes, receive information from others, or otherwise have access to information not in their own head during exams. The sole exception is that for exams students are permitted to bring a single 8.5"x11" two-sided notes page in their own handwriting. A notes page that is not in the student's own handwriting (e.g., containing printed images of slides or clip art) is prohibited. The notes page must additionally have the student's name. Notes pages must be handed in with exams, but will be available for return. Students must keep their eyes on their own paper during exams. All items except permitted test-taking materials (e.g., pencil, non-communicating calculator) must be left at the front of the exam room during the exam. This specifically includes that students must not have cell phones or PDAs with or near them during exams.
Students are expected to do the pre-lab entirely on their own (except in one or more cases in which collaboration is specifically permitted in writing for a particular pre-lab -- if in doubt, ask before collaborating). So this means: the pre-lab is an individual homework, and labs (including all work after the pre-lab is handed in, including lab prep, demo, and writeup) is a team-of-two effort. There shall be no help nor conversation whatsoever (regardless of whether that help is technically substantive, or even just about cosmetic issues) with classmates or others about solution approaches, except for discussions with course staff. Students can get help in understanding lecture and reading materials from anyone, but not in how to apply those lecture materials to the assignments. Students can share information about general lab equipment issues (e.g., "I'm having trouble with the USB connection; can anyone help?") so long as such sharing does not provide or lead to solutions to lab questions in a reasonably direct manner (e.g., NOT "The lab asks me to write a division routine; can someone show me their division software so I can see how to do it?"). As a guideline, if you are asking about what an assignment question means or how to go about solving an assigned problem, that is something you should NOT be discussing with anyone except course staff (or, when permitted, your lab partner). If you think you have an equipment problem or found a bug in course-supplied tools, it is OK to ask for help from other students to determine if it is a bug/problem or not. While we intend to be reasonable, it is the student's responsibility to actively avoid gray areas in this regard, and ask for clarification if in doubt.
Reference to or use of any examination, quiz, pre-lab, lab solution, other assignment or solution material from other groups, previous semesters, or other sources beyond the official course web site and current-year blackboard system is specifically and strictly forbidden. This applies even if you "found it on the Web" or "my friend told me it was OK". This includes any use of material, whether substantive, cosmetic, or incidental. If in doubt, ask the course staff for guidance on whether a particular source is fair game. Anything explicitly included on this year's course web site or blackboard site (for example, if the instructor posts a copy of a previous-year test on an official course web site) is OK to use. If you are unsure, ask us. If you are unsure about being unsure, ask us (the course staff). If you make a mistake, come to the staff IMMEDIATELY (before the assignment, exam, etc. is handed in) to explain the situation, and we will work out something if you are acting in good faith.
Any instance of cheating will result in failure for the entire course (i.e., a grade of "R" for the course). Please take this warning to heart and don't cheat. We're very serious on this point. Students are reminded that cheating in multiple courses can be (and has been used as) grounds for suspension or even expulsion from the university.
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