1. Final Year Project (FYP) 2016-2017
School of Computer and Communication Engineering
Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP)

2. Chapter 3

3. Methodology - Has the problem been “solved”?
PURPOSE
The method section answers these two main questions:
How was the data collected or generated?
2. How was it analyzed?
In general,
- Has the problem been “solved”?
- To what extent have the objectives been achieved?
In other words, it shows your reader how you obtained your results.

4. But why do you need to explain how you obtained your results?  
We need to know how the data was obtained because the method affects the results.
Your methodology should make clear the reasons why you chose a particular method or procedure.
The reader wants to know that the data was collected or generated in a way that is consistent with accepted practice in the field of study.

5. If you propose a new model/approach/concept, it has to discuss the model/ approach/concept from the beginning till the end.
It has to be accompanied with the correctness of the model/ approach /concept . This can be done through implementation or mathematical approach.
The implementation can be either simulation or real-time test case.

6. COMMON PROBLEMS
Irrelevant detail
Unnecessary explanation of basic procedures
Common blindness (survey)

7. Voice in the Method chapter
Passive voice rather than active voice
WHY USE PASSIVE VOICE?
People reading your report are going to be far less interested in you than in your work so the emphasis should be on what you did and not on you. Also, by not saying "I implemented the architecture" but "The architecture was implemented" you make your writing sound more objective.

8. WRITING ABOUT WHAT YOU HAVE DONE
Avoid using "I" or "we". By convention, if the passive voice is used we assume that an action was carried out by the researcher/s, and we don't say directly who did it.

9. For example:
INCORRECT The temperature inside the chamber was increased from 0 C to 20 C by the researcher.
CORRECT The temperature inside the chamber was increased from 0 C to 20 C. (We assume the researcher increased the temperature.)
INCORRECT Four thermocouples were monitored hourly by the researcher.
CORRECT Four thermocouples were monitored hourly. (We assume the researcher monitored them.)
          

10. WRITING ABOUT WHAT THE EQUIPMENT HAS DONE
The active voice is usually used when the equipment has performed an action (i.e. when it is not the researcher/s who have performed the action).
For example:
A 200hp generator provided power to the piezometers.
Control gauges monitored air pressure inside the chamber.
The use of active voice indicates that the researchers were not directly involved in the functioning of the equipment.
The passive voice can be used to describe an action involving equipment, but a "by" clause must be included to which equipment performed the action.
Power was supplied by 14 generators with capacities ranging from 90 to 300 KW.

11. An Example

17. FPGA chip ECCA Conduit IDB ODB I/P_ Address Gen. Signal Emulator View
Sub-Sys. to
DAC
Conduit
Input
Unit
Manager
Array Data
ECCA
Kalman
Filter
Extended
Unscented
Particle
REP
(Target
Configuration)
(Localizer)
Control
Sub-Sys. to
Drivers
Serial Data
M_clk.
Clock
Gen.
O/P_ Address
Gen.
FPGA chip

18. FPGA chip RCB I FPGA chip Digital I/O Analog I/O ADC DAC ECCA Conduit
M_clk.
Core Processor
ECCA
Array Data
Serial Data
FPGA chip
IDB
Signal Emulator
ODB to
Drivers
DAC
Conduit
View
Sub-Sys.
O/P_ Address
Gen.
Control
Clock
Input
Unit
Manager
I/P_ Address
Kalman
Filter
Extended
Unscented
Particle
REP
(Target
Configuration)
(Localizer)
Digital I/O
FPGA chip
Analog I/O
External
Memory
ADC
DAC

19. System FPGA chip Digital I/O Analog I/O ADC DAC Instrument 1 I/O
External
Memory
Digital I/O
Analog I/O
RCB I
Instrument 1
I/O
I/O
Instrument 2
I/O
Instrument N

20. FPGA Implementation Combination of Embedded Multithreading
Data pumped in packets
Structural System design

21. Flow diagram of the FPGA design and Verification

22. Thank you