Abstract:- The rapid growth in computer technologies in almost every facet of our lives has led to an increasing  need  for professionals who have design  knowledge and analysis skills of embedded computing systems. Such systems have been implemented in a variety of applications including communication, control, automotive, military, aerospace, medical and home appliances. Embedded system engineering is an inter-disciplinary program that integrates various engineering disciplines with emphasis on high-speed computer hardware and reliable time-critical software systems. The program would enrich engineering design of modern embedded computing systems as well as generate more and better implementation skills for region-wide information technology industries. This proposal presents description of a tentative graduate program in computer engineering-embedded system in collaboration with the King Abdullah II Design and Development Bureau (KADDB) and PERFECT Education. This collaboration resulted in establishing the Prince Faisal Information Technology Center (PF-ITC) that mainly coordinates operational matters of the tentative program. More details are given next on program motivations, objectives, and degree requirement.

1-Theme  

     Recent advances in the IT industry have stirred an interest in developing efficient and reliable stand-alone systems capable of performing time-critical tasks. Such systems are known as embedded systems and have been implemented in a variety of applications including communication, control, automotive, military, aerospace, medical and home appliances. A proposal is presented here to establish a graduate program in embedded systems engineering. The theme of the program is to provide students with knowledge and skills necessary for the design of modern complex systems that operate on a basis of high-speed hardware and time-efficient software components. The program combines the disciplines of computer engineering and sciences, information technology, electronics, and communication engineering. The program is a joint-project between Yarmouk University, KADDB and PERFECT Education. It is designed to address the needs for advanced technical education in embedded technologies and to constantly upgrade existing skill levels with emerging core technologies of the world through design and development services.

      As new applications and services are constantly being developed based on hardware and software embedded system technologies, more embedded system professionals will be needed in a fast-growing job market for embedded systems. Embedded operating system vendors continue to focus on providing embedded software developers a value chain of integrated products and services. These software development solutions add value to the development process, and aid developers in managing the growing complexity of product development and focusing on differentiating their products. The curriculum of the program has been developed to address such market needs. It comprises of courses covering advanced topics on operating systems, computer architecture, organization, and networking, microprocessor and microcomputer systems, and embedded system design.

 2- Motivations

 The proposal for establishing such a graduate program is motivated by:

1. Increasing demand on skilled personnel of embedded systems with multi-disciplinary engineering knowledge as a result of the rapid spread of embedded system technologies in every facet of our modern life.
2. Increasing need for embedded systems in a wide spectrum of applications in the IT industry to better enhance productivity, security, and quality.
3. Lack of training centers and academic institutions in the region that offer multi-disciplinary engineering programs in embedded systems engineering.
4. Necessity to provide esteemed postgraduate education in embedded systems to professional engineers in variety of industries in the region.
5. Establishing academic foundations for bridging the gap between academia and industry to better improve students’ and industry personnel’s technical skills.
6. Feasibility to establish such a program at Yarmouk University based on existing engineering academics, laboratory infrastructure, and collaboration with both KADDB and PERFECT education.

3- General Objectives 

1. Provide the IT industry with professional engineers who have sound postgraduate qualification, comprehensive understanding of embedded systems engineering, and ability to tackle complex engineering problems.
2. Provide opportunities to conduct research involving realistic engineering problems
3. Carry out research to solve problems of the local and regional industry and to promote an embedded system infrastructure for better productivity and quality.
4. Create better understanding of the practical applications and profitability of embedded systems among industry managers and professionals.

4- Specific Objectives 

1. Develop student knowledge in embedded system technologies
2. Develop skills in design and use of embedded systems technology
3. Expand current knowledge and apply new ideas in practice
4. Gain hands-on experience in embedded system design and enhance career opportunities
5. Enhance personal competency and skills through practical training in problem solving, maintenance and troubleshooting.
6. Develop analytical and practical skills in real-time embedded systems and applications.

5- Academic qualifications

Students wishing to enroll in this program must have obtained a bachelors degree in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering (communications, electronics, or power), Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics, or Computer Science.

6- Degree requirements

Students must accomplish a total of 39 credit hours: 30 credit hours of course work and 9 credit hours of thesis work.

a.                             Core courses: 21 credit hours 

b.                             Elective courses II: 9 credit hours 

c.       Master Thesis: 9 credit hours 

Courses offered by PERFECT Education

Courses offered by the Computer Engineering Department

Courses offered by other Departments at Hijjawi Faculty

 Hijjawi Faculty for Engineering Technology

Master of Science in

Computer Engineering – Embedded Systems

Course description

CCE 651/ESE 01: Introductory course on Linux    (0 credit hours)

Linux administration, commands, program development environment, shell programming, GNU debugger. Process model, files and directories, memory management, inter-process communication, thread concepts, POSIX thread standards and thread APIs.

CCE 652/ESE 02: Advanced operating systems    (3 credit hours)

Process synchronization and inter-process communication, kernel module programming, interrupt service routine, device drivers, debugger, distributed operating systems: structure, file system and coordination, protection and security concepts. The Linux operating system structure, distributed computing, Linux clusters and Linux device drivers.

CCE 653/ESE 03: Advanced computer architecture and organization  (3 credit hours)

PCI architecture and programming, configuration space model, SCSI protocol and drivers, 3-level architecture, USB architecture and data flow model, multiprocessor architecture, principles of pipelining and vector processing, multiprocessor control and algorithms.

CCE 654/ESE 04: Advanced computer networks   (3 credit hours)

Basic networking concepts, IP addressing mechanisms, packet filtering, network security basics, cracking algorithms, the IP security protocol and VPN clients, tunneling devices and embedded security products, TCP/IP protocol stack, network management issues and requirements, wireless networking LAN, WAN, and Bluetooth.

CCE 655/ESE 05: Embedded system design    (3 credit hours)

Embedded system concepts, hardware architecture, design and debugging, embedded processor selection, software development methodologies, real-time Linux, synchronization mechanisms, interrupt latency, application programming interface, interrupt service routine, application design considerations.

CCE 656/ESE 06: Digital system design using FPGAs    (3 credit hours)

Basic semiconductor physics, digital logic families, design methodologies, digital logic circuits, programmable logic devices, digital logic implementation with CPLD and FPGA, Verilog compilation for CPLDs and FPGAs, synthesis of Altera CPLD and FPGA, synchronous versus asynchronous design, clock skew and path delays, PCB layout, post routing issues, embedded RAM and design criteria.

CCE 657/ESE 07: Design and verification of digital hardware using VERILOG HDL (3 credit hours)

Verilog HDL for digital design, Verilog module and coding structure: data types, expressions, and statements. Hierarchical design approach, verification methodologies, simulator compiler control, value change dump, sample design for simulation, designing combinational and sequential circuits, finite state machines, and test benches.

CCE 658/ESE_08: Realtime embedded systems (3 credit hours)

Design of microprocessor-based embedded system application. Embedded system elements: sensor/actuator devices, A/D and D/A I/O interfaces, commercial real-time operating system, multi-tasking application software. Topics include: real-time kernel configuration and extension, main loop designs, multi-tasking, inter-task communication, cooperative and priority pre-emptive designs, hard real-time scheduling theory and design, latency, response, time, system performance, and development and testing techniques

EE 600: Statistical quality control    (3 credit hours)

Modern statistical methods for quality control and improvement, basic principles to state-of-art concepts and applications, cumulative sum and exponentially weighted moving average control charts, modeling process quality, methods and philosophy of statistical process control, univariate and multivariate process monitoring and control, process design and optimization with designed experiments.

CCE 612 Advanced topics in microprocessor system design  (3 credit hours)

Study of the advanced microprocessor architectures including 32/64-bit RISC processors from leading manufacturers. The design concepts, performance and architectural limitations of RISC and CISC families of microprocessors will be compared based on detailed architectural analysis of the selected devices. Topics include: address/instruction pipelines, burst cycles, memory caching and cache coherency issues, register renaming, speculative instruction execution and other performance-oriented techniques.

          CCE 622 Robotics: fundamentals and applications (3 credit hours)                                                              

Mathematical modeling of robot mechanisms and the analysis methods used to design control laws for these mechanisms. Homogeneous transformations and relative coordinate frames. Topics include: kinematics of robot manipulators, Robot velocities and static forces, manipulator dynamics, reference trajectory generation, control theory applied to robot manipulators, and tele-operation control.

CCE 691A Special topics in computer engineering (3 credit hours)

The contents of the special topic course will be different than the contents of the offered courses and will be determined by the department

 EE 630 Advanced topics in instrumentation (3 credit hours)

Data acquisition and signal conditioning, process control devices, design, build and use of     modern measurement and control systems. Emphasis is placed on developing the ability to analyze, and design the complex computer-based systems needed in sophisticated industrial and commercial systems, sensors for measurement and control, micro controller systems.

      PE 631 Micro-electromechanical systems (3 credit hours)

 Design, processing, and analysis of MEMS devices, combining the miniaturization and processing techniques of semiconductor technology with mechanical structures, MEMS for devices and solutions. Electro-mechanical locks, MEMS devices in mirror assemblies for digital projectors, and optical handlers. micro-manipulators, high frequency switches and resonators, fluid handling units, and micro-turbines.

     CE 613 Real-time signal processing (3 credit hours)

The TMS 320C30 digital signal processor, Hardware/Software development systems, Finite impulse response filters, Infinite impulse response filters, Fast Fourier transform, Wavelet transform, adaptive filters, TI C6 X family overview and programming, applications using real-time processors.