| Week | Notes | Reading | Topics |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 1/13 |
Lecture 1 | 1, 2.1-2.5, 2.10, 2.12 |
Introduction - ARM architecture, instruction set, stack, CCS compiler, GPIO, timer, UART, device drivers Software design & debugging - Modular programming, call & data flow graphs, debugging instruments, intrusiveness |
| 2 1/20 |
Lecture 2 | 4.1-4.2 |
RTOS - Multi-threading/-tasking, OS architecture, OS kernel Threads - Context switching, TCB, cooperative & preemptive multitasking, round-robin scheduler |
| 3 1/27 |
Lecture 3 | 4.3-4.6 |
Threads - Thread states, suspending/sleeping/killing, operating modes, protection Thread communication & synchronization - Critical sections, reentrance, FIFO, mailbox |
| 4 2/3 |
Lecture 4 | 5 2.11 |
Semaphores - Spinlock & blocking semaphores, deadlock, monitors, process networks Debugging - Testing, performance measures (response time, jitter, throughput) |
| 5 2/10 |
Lecture 5 | 6 |
Scheduling - Real-time scheduling, priority scheduler, scheduling anomalies, fixed-rate scheduler Exam 1 is 2/19, 12:30-2:00pm, in class |
| 6 2/17 |
Lecture 6 | 2.6, 3 8 |
SD interface - flash disk interface using SSI, high-speed interfacing, DMA File system - file system management |
| 7 2/24 |
Lecture 7 | 7 |
Memory management - heap, processes Process management - process images, loading, linking, relocation, PCBs |
| 8 3/3 |
1-6 | Finish Lectures 6 and 7 | |
| 9 3/10 |
Lecture 8 | 2.7, 10 2.8, 11.2 |
Sensing interfacing - Input capture, period measurement, signal processing Motor interfacing - Transistor interfaces, pulse width modulation (PWM) |
| Break 3/17 |
Spring Break | ||
| 10 3/24 |
Lecture 9 | 9.1-9.4 |
Microcontroller networking - Controller Area Network (CAN), Ethernet, Wifi Internet - Protocol stacks, ISO/OSI model, TCP/IP, IoT |
| 11 3/31 |
Lecture 10 | 11 |
Robots - Team work, testing and debugging, design process Control systems - PID control, fuzzy logic and control |
| 12 4/7 |
Lecture 11 |
Memory management (cont'd) - Protection, virtual memory, paging Exam 2 is 4/9, 12:30-2:00pm, in class |
|
| 13 4/14 |
Lecture 12 | 12 1-11 |
Commerical RTOS - µC/OS, VxWorks Final exam review |
| 14 4/21 |
Robot competitions (preliminary and final), EER Atrium | ||
| Finals 4/28 |
1-11 | Final exam, Saturday, 5/3, 1:00-3:00pm, TBD (regularly scheduled) | |
| Contents © Copyright 2026 Andreas Gerstlauer and Jonathan Valvano | http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~valvano/EE445M/ http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~gerstl/ee445m_s25 |