Thinking inside the box: a multi-disciplinary real-time and embedded systems course sequence

Small electronic products for the mass market are increasing in complexity with the incorporation of programmable components. The software in these devices has constraints that are markedly different from software designed for a general-purpose computer. Most computing curricula deal almost exclusively with developing software for that general-purpose class. Real-time and embedded systems have increased in complexity to the point that their development is no longer within the expertise of a single discipline. Developers now must be cognizant of software engineering design methodologies and underlying hardware constraints. RIT is addressing this by developing a three-course sequence of cross-disciplinary real-time and embedded systems courses. We are teaching these courses in a studio-lab environment teaming computer engineering and software engineering students. The courses will introduce students to programming both microcontrollers and more sophisticated targets, by using a commercial real-time operating system and development environment, modeling and performance engineering of these systems, and their interactions with physical systems