CS 452/652 - Real-time Programming

     I hear the train a comin'
     It's rollin' 'round the bend
     And I ain't seen the sunshine
     Since I don't know when...

     Johnny Cash

Winter 2023

Important Note for Students Not Enrolled Yet

Official Course Outline

Registrar's Schedule of Classes

Communication

Piazza is used as the primary communication channel for announcements, clarifications, questions, discussions, etc. It is expected that all students are familiar with all material posted and discussed on Piazza. There are different Q&A folders for (more might be added as needed):

announcements,
questions, and
reporting hardware problems.

For any personal matters, please email the instructor.

Accommodations

If a student needs to self-isolate due to COVID protocols, individual adjustments will be made to assignment deadlines and/or weighting depending on the particular circumstances.

Lecture Notes

Lecture notes will be posted here after class. They are telegraphic, so they are not a substitute for the lectures. But if you attend the lectures they will most likely be a good memory prosthetic.

Jan 10, 2023 - Introduction and Overview
Jan 12, 2023 - Devices and Trains
Jan 17, 2023 - Polling Loops, Kernel, Tasks
Jan 19, 2023 - ARM Processor, Context Switch
Jan 24, 2023 - Context Switch (cont'd), Coding
Jan 26, 2023 - Send-Receive-Reply, Name Resolution
Jan 31, 2023 - Optimization, Measurements, Caches
Feb 2, 2023 - Interrupts
Feb 7, 2023
Feb 9, 2023
Feb 14, 2023
Feb 16, 2023
Feb 20-24, 2023 - Model Train Week (aka Reading Week)
Feb 28, 2023
Mar 2, 2023
Mar 7, 2023
Mar 9, 2023
Mar 14, 2023
Mar 16, 2023 - TC1 Demos - no class
Mar 21, 2023
Mar 23, 2023
Mar 28, 2023
Mar 30, 2023 - TC2 Demos - no class
Apr 4, 2023

Apr 6, 2023

Assignments

Assignment A0 is to be completed independently by each student. Afterwards, groups of 2 students (or 3 in exceptional circumstances) work on the remaining assignments.

IMPORTANT: Late assignment submissions will not be accepted. Plagiarism detection software will be used. Students might be asked to meet with TAs and explain their code. See below for further information about academic integrity and appeals. Also see Notes on Assignments.

Due dates below are tentative until the assignment is published.

Assignment Link to Assignment Due Date Notes
A0 Polling Loop Tue, Jan 17, 9:00am Communication with Trains and Terminal
K1 Kernel (Part 1) Tue, Jan 31, 9:00am Context-Switch, Task Scheduling
K2 Kernel (Part 2) Tue, Feb 7, 9:00am Message Passing, Name Server
K3 Kernel (Part 3) Thu, Feb 16, 9:00am Event Notification, Clock Server
KD Kernel Design Tue, Feb 28, 9:00am In-Class Presentations on Feb 28
K4 Kernel (Part 4) Thu, Mar 2, 9:00am UART Server(s)
TC1 Train Control (Part 1) Thu, Mar 16, 9:00am Demo: control one train
Final Project - Proposal Thu, Mar 23, 9:00am submitted for feedback, but not graded
TC2 Train Control (Part 2) Thu, Mar 30, 9:00am Demo: control multiple trains
Final Project Mon, Apr 10, 9:00am Demo

Assignment	Link to Assignment	Due Date	Notes
A0	Polling Loop	Tue, Jan 17, 9:00am	Communication with Trains and Terminal
K1	Kernel (Part 1)	Tue, Jan 31, 9:00am	Context-Switch, Task Scheduling
K2	Kernel (Part 2)	Tue, Feb 7, 9:00am	Message Passing, Name Server
K3	Kernel (Part 3)	Thu, Feb 16, 9:00am	Event Notification, Clock Server
KD	Kernel Design	Tue, Feb 28, 9:00am	In-Class Presentations on Feb 28
K4	Kernel (Part 4)	Thu, Mar 2, 9:00am	UART Server(s)
TC1	Train Control (Part 1)	Thu, Mar 16, 9:00am	Demo: control one train
	Final Project - Proposal	Thu, Mar 23, 9:00am	submitted for feedback, but not graded
TC2	Train Control (Part 2)	Thu, Mar 30, 9:00am	Demo: control multiple trains
	Final Project	Mon, Apr 10, 9:00am	Demo

Final Exam

The final exam will be scheduled by the Registrar. It will cover material from the entire course. The final exam will be given as take-home exam. 24 hours before the registrar-scheduled start time. Exam answers have to be submitted by email to the instructor at the scheduled end time (i.e., after 26.5 hours).

UW Final Exam Regulations
Math Faculty INC Rules

Resources

Lab

The lab room is MC 3018 and is for the exclusive use of CS 452/652 students. The access code is announced in class. Do not give the code to other students! The usual rules apply, such as no food. Please see CSCF Teaching Lab Policies for details.

Most workstations in the main room run Ubuntu Linux with access to the regular linux.student.cs environment. The workstations connected to the Raspberry Pi computers run a slightly different Linux setup with a default login. Two of those are connected to train tracks. You can use the gtkterm terminal emulator to communicate with the Raspberry Pi via serial interface.

Raspberry Pi

Train Set

The track and trains are controlled by sending commands via the serial interface.

Märklin: HTML, Scanned

IMPORTANT: A turnout solenoid must be switched off (via Command 0x20 or by switching another turnout) between 100 and 500 milliseconds after it was activated!
Track Diagrams and Data

Compiling

cross compiler:	`/u/cs452/public/xdev/bin/aarch64-none-elf-gcc`
example code:	`/u/cs452/public/iotest/`

Other

ANSI/VT100 Terminal Control: short list, more info

Curiosities

Previous Course Offerings
Old Track - Pictures (Courtesy of Ian Bull. Used with permission.)
Reddit Insight
Wikipedia on QNX