Embedded systems within the context of this text includes computer control systems. In order to implement control software programming is required for a dedicated micro-controller. It is also necessary to interface the sensors and actuators to the micro-controller so that the required control action can be implemented. This text provides an overview of embedded systems from this perspective. The details are excluded in favour of a more general understanding of the approach. There are examples of C and assembly programming and also aspects of the computer architecture of the 80x51 family of...

This textbook aims to help the reader to organise and execute projects that involve a degree of academic research and also to recognise the commercial opportunities that can arise from these. Project planning is first considered from the standpoint of a feasibility study. The example is a case study of a hypothetical Wind Power generation project. Techniques of PERT/CPM and their role in the planning and organisation of project tasks are also included. Some guidelines are also given on the writing style in technical reports. Examples of funding opportunities and factors that influence the...

This textbook offers an overview of computer architectures. In the first few chapters I cover topics relating to general computer hardware architecture and also the role of the operating system. Here I also deal with areas such as process management and memory management. Chapter 5 deals with issues relating to CPU design. General features of an 8-bit CPU are considered and a typical instruction set is designed. There follows an example of a CPU simulator written in C programming language. This is done to illustrate how the instructions are processed inside the Control Unit. Chapters 6 and 7...

This textbook is intended to introduce the reader to the various aspects of a software engineering project. I describe the waterfall, exploratory programming, prototyping and other approaches to software engineering. This is followed by modelling to include a brief description of the Unified Modelling Language (UML). Requirements engineering is presented as the starting point of project management. This leads to design, which considers the programming paradigms as well as to the overall system architecture. I briefly cover fault tree analysis as well as Failure Mode and Effects Analysis...