Course Details in 2026/27 Session

Module Title	Small Embedded Systems
School	School of Engineering
Department	Elec, Elec & Sys Engineering
Module Code	04 21479
Module Lead	Steven Quigley
Level	Masters Level
Credits	20
Semester	Semester 1
Pre-requisites
Co-requisites
Restrictions	Previous experience of procedural programming in C is essential
Contact Hours	Lecture-7 hours Practical Classes and workshops-15 hours Guided independent study-178 hours Total: 200 hours
Exclusions
Description	The aims of this course are to: Introduce the theory and practical skills relating to embedded systems design construction for industrial applications, including real time control and embedded networking. Introduce students to a range of embedded systems application domains. Review basic concepts in digital and analogue circuit design and C programming as required by different microcontrollers and microprocessors. Introduce students to the key design criteria and programming design tools useful to embedded systems design through a selection of devices (e.g., PIC micro-controllers, Arduino, Rapsberry Pi). Make students aware of an array of communications buses and peripheral devices that can be used as part of an embedded system. Introduce students to key ideas of real time and distributed embedded systems and their implementation. Introduce students to the key ideas of safety and reliability estimation and enhancement.
Learning Outcomes	By the end of the module students should be able to: ꮧDesign and construct small embedded systems. Design small embedded systems in industrial applications. Design embedded systems that use standard communication buses to interface to peripheral devices. Design embedded systems that communicate over the Internet and interface to cloud-based Internet of Things services Perform calculations on safety and reliability, and use these to show the quantitative impact of reliability enhancing adjustments to designs Explain the various embedded communication standards in terms of their performance, reliability, safety and flexibility
Assessment	21479-01 : Module mark : Mixed (100%)
Assessment Methods & Exceptions	Assessment: Assessments: A written unseen examination of 2 hours answering 3 questions from 4 (50%), a laboratory report assessed (15%) and an assignment assessed by a presentation and report (2000 words) (35%). Reassessment: If the module is failed then each component that is failed will be repeated and the existing marks carried forward to compute a new mark. In each case a new examination or assignment will be issued.
Other	None
Reading List	Steve Heath. Embedded System Design, Newnes Wayne Wolf, Computers as Components, Morgan Kaufmann Raj Kamal. Embedded Systems: Architecture, Programming, and Design. McGraw Hill