BEng (Hons) Electronic Systems Engineering
Course Leader: Tim Mulroy
t.j.mulroy@shu.ac.uk
South-East Asia has become the manufacturing powerhouse of the world and is the largest supplier of high-quality low-cost components and products to key industries such as automotive, computer and consumer electronics. This growth has created a pressing demand for engineers with specialised skills and expertise to design, test and manufacture electronic systems. Studying at Sheffield Hallam University for the BEng (Hons) Electronic Systems Engineering aims to give you the opportunity to develop these skills.
Students will complete 60 credits at Sheffield. There is a Mobile Communications/Microelectronics route, and a Control/Robotics route, leading to the award of BEng (Hons) Electronic Systems Engineering.
Units of Study
This course builds on the core concepts of Electronic Systems. You will study one compulsory unit plus three option units which build on your Advanced Diploma studies.
• Electronic Systems
Digital system design and synthesis ROM based designs, limitations and testing. ASM design, state graphs and tables. Design and analysis of selected arithmetic circuits. Computer design. Design for testability. Embedded processor co-ware system design, simulation and test. Reed-Muller representation, documentation and verification for re-useable designs CAD, Device and circuit modelling.
Semiconductor device models: static and hf model parameters and their effect on simulation characteristics, micro models for operational amplifiers and other complex circuits. Computer analysis of amplifier/filter performance.
Amplification and other circuit techniques: Bipolar and MOS transistor hf equivalent circuits: small signal parameters and use in amplifier circuit analysis. Circuits for current/voltage, voltage/current, frequency/voltage and voltage/frequency conversion. Log/antilog amplifiers, phase locked loops, current mirrors, active loads, differential stages, VCOs, integrated analogue timing/oscillator circuits.
Passive and active filter design; low pass, high pass, band pass, band stop. Active filter design using operational amplifiers. Sallen-Key and switched capacitor filters.
This module is assessed by coursework (30%) and examination (70%).
• Embedded Computer Systems (option)
Assembly language programming. Instruction format, address modes, flags, data types. Subroutines and the stack. Use and limitations of high level language in microcontroller environment. Parallel I/O: push buttons/switches, key pads, LEDS, LCD, AtoD, DtoA. Serial I/O: VDU, Inter IC Bus, CAN. Real time: timers/counters, interrupts. Test equipment: meters, logic probes, CROs, In Circuit Emulation.
This module is assessed by coursework (100%).
• Real Time and Concurrent Systems (option)
Introduction to concurrency and parallel programming. The choice of language and role played by operating system kernel. What is a real-time system? Classification of real-time time systems. The design of concurrent and parallel systems. Distributed and networked systems versus single CPU. The role of the Real time clock and operating system kernel in managing processes on a single CPU solution. Dynamic process creation, termination and control. Process communication. Pipelines and Datapools. Solving Mutual Exclusion. The semaphore. The Producer consumer problem and its solution.
Process synchronisation and stimulation: Events and signals. Memory management aspects. The role of the MMU. Process scheduling strategies. Process states and priorities. Pre-emptive vs. non pre-emptive strategies. Simple scheduling strategies.
This module is assessed by coursework (100%).
• Control Systems (elective - taken with Robotics)
State-space design – observers for unmeasurable states, regulators and tracking systems. Multivariable systems.
Fuzzy logic control – fuzzy inference systems – Mamdani, Sugeno.
System modelling – identification by pseudo-random binary sequence testing and correlation methods. More complex system models from frequency response data.
Digital systems – digital implementation of continuous-time designs (e.g. PID). Truly digital controllers (dead-beat, Kalman, Dahlin).
Nonlinear systems - descriptions of nonlinearities and their effects on system performance. Analysis and design techniques selected from describing function, phase plane, Popov’s method, circle criterion, Lyapunov methods.
This module is assessed by coursework (20%) and examination (80%).
• Mobile Communications and Digital Signal Processing (elective - taken with Microelectronic Engineering)
Mobile Communication: Introduction to mobile radio communications, the cellular concept, mobile radio propagation, mobile radio aerials. Modulation techniques, detection techniques, system performance, multiple access systems
Digital signal processing: Discrete time systems and their properties, application of MATLAB. Finite word lengths in digital signal processing, coding, multirate systems. General and special purpose digital signal processor boards and ICs. Adaptive digital signal processing, non-parametric spectrum analysis.
This module is assessed by coursework (20%) and examination (80%).
• Robotics (elective - taken with Control Systems)
Robot programming techniques, robot simulation and modelling techniques. Kinematic assessment and performance of typical industrial robotic manipulators. Robot system assessment, economics, safety and system components. Sensor and actuator techniques and performance and their application in robot systems. Robotic applications of machine vision, feature identification, edge detection and interpretation, human machine interface.
This module is assessed by coursework (20%) and examination (80%).
• Micro-electronic Engineering (elective - taken with Mobile Communications and Digital Signal Processing)
Microelectronics devices and subsystems. Fabrication technologies. Production analysis, yield tracking, environmental measurement and control. Characterisation, testing. Basic VLSI Design tools including iterative arrays, cellular automata, von Neumann architectures, systolic arrays, asynchronous arrays. Floor planning, design sizing, concepts of circuit and pad bounds. Design entry and verification methods. Formal methods applied to circuit design. Design entry and synthesis CAD packages. Physical layout and DRC software. Design for test. Derivation of test sets. Failure analysis.
This module is assessed by coursework (40%) and examination (60%).
Assessment
You must achieve overall mark of 40% to pass a unit. The programme you will undertake here at Sheffield comprises 60 credits of work at UK degree level 6.
Entry Requirements
This course is only available for students who have completed their Advanced Diploma at TAR College in Malaysia after 1999.
Download course handbook (DOC, 342KB)
