10 Aug 2010 ECE/BENG-492 SENIOR ADVANCED DESIGN PROJECT Meeting #5

ECE-492 Meeting#5 Q1: Teams – show draft diagrams of your system architecture Q2: Any questions about proposal format and preparation?

System Design II: Behavioral Models A system model is needed for describing system behavior, with an emphasis on computing resources and other resources influencing system functionality Models are needed to describe: –Interactivity of a system with the environment –Man-machine interactions – how to operate a system –Interactivity between modules – signal/data exchange, actions, etc. Models can be used to describe system behavior at any level

You need to work with these models to avoid disasters!!! They are also planning tools for your team ‘Model’ – we mean a hard copy so you and your team can see it on paper –Models in your mind... leave for your hobbies... and please, get real –A hard copy is a must: To have a blueprint of system behavior, To coordinate your implementation activities around these behaviors, and To be able to trace it if problems occur --- and they will !!!

Models State Diagrams (State Machine) –State diagrams describe the behavior of systems with memory –Intuitively, a state corresponds to an operating mode of a system and inputs are associated with transitions between states –Almost all systems are systems with memory – consider startup phase, work phase, turn-off phase, sleep phase, etc. –Show transitions between states/phases using state diagrams –A must for systems with microcontrollers –Excellent tool to visualize control influences for systems controlled by a microprocessor –Mostly used at the upper abstraction level –Again, you have to use them when programming microcontrollers – will help you to define tasks and task switching mechanisms

Engine Running Power Off Idle Engage Base Charge Balance Power Charge Battery Max Pause (INT) ON(Engage Off) or ON(Rpm=0) Power On Engage On Charge On No- Operation Start Engine Emergency Stop Stop (INT) Mode 10 Mode 11 Mode 01

Flowcharts –The intention is to visually describe a process or algorithm; for example data/signal processing –Used to connect activities of a process or algorithm together –You can use flowcharts to describe processes at different levels of detail within each state Data Flow Diagrams –Used to model the processing and flow of data inside a system –A function oriented modeling approach –Differs from Flowcharts – it does not encapsulate control and sequencing information, but allows multiple processes running concurrently –See Chapter 6

CASE STUDY #1

Early Prototyping Early prototyping is absolutely needed to –Understand chips/components you will work with (these days many chips are multifunctional with inherited complications) –Check them against spec –Play to educate yourself and gain experience Right after proposal presentation, you need to define key chips/elements you will use in your design/system – you need to buy them early and work with immediately Early prototyping report is needed at your Design Review Presentation (Week#11) You will eventually need to extend early prototyping over the first 1-2 weeks of ECE-493, if needed, but no longer than that

Proposal Presentation Limit your presentation to minutes You must have two faculty members at the presentation All team members must speak at the proposal presentation – distribute the load evenly, but do not switch speakers too frequently Your presentation must be professional –It matters what you wear –Use audio-visual equipment –Distribute a copy of your proposal and slides before the presentation day (coordinate with FS) –Use right size font and nice figures Book the room and find another faculty in advance

Preparing for the Presentation Before you start developing the presentation, plan your strategy. Design it! You are telling the story!!! Analyze your audience - it’s the audience stupid! –What are they interested in? –What do they want from your talk? –What does the audience know? What don’t they know? Determine main points –Emphasize 2-3 main points in your talk –Structure your presentation to support these points –Remember, ‘tell your story’

Sample Presentation Content Follow your proposal content Introduction/motivation and identification of a need Main technical body including –Requirements –System architecture –Alternative designs (any other you considered?) –Identify main components and their role. How about interfaces? –What are major challenges? –Experimentation and testing approach Main administrative body –List of tasks and allocation of responsibilities –Skills of team members. What is an extra knowledge/skills to be acquired? Conclusions

Extra Advice Use professionally prepared graphics Do not use PowerPoint “CPU Wasters” (extra visual effects, fancy combinations of them) Avoid the use of cue cards – read directly from slides Meet the time constraints through the entire talk – have control points Motivate your audience to listen. Stay excited. Practice your talk in front of your teammates, girlfriend/ boyfriend, family members Do not overprepare to the point of sounded scripted Practice the talk a night before, and do only a brief review of the material right before the talk You can tell a joke but watch out the ethics, etc. Prepare for the question and answer session

For the Next Meeting Read textbook – Chapters 6 and 12 Teams – bring a state diagram showing state transition of your system at Level-1 (or Flowchart, Data flow diagram) Next meeting: –Design document; Design Review presentation