Syllabus

1st Semester

First 11 weeks:

Requirements and Model-driven Engineering - RAMDE: Principles of model-driven development for critical systems, including requirements elicitation and analysis; Model-based verification & validation tools; Safety-driven assessment including relevant industrial standards and human factors; Testing and fault analysis.

Real-time & Embedded Systems - RTAES: Introduction to real-time & embedded computing systems; Scheduling algorithms and schedulability analysis for uni- and multi-processor systems; Mechanisms for shared resources management in RTES; Principles and techniques for mixed/multi-criticality in RTES.

Communication Technologies for Critical Systems - COMCS: Communication protocols for critical systems (e.g. factory automation, automotive, avionics); Modeling and analysis of critical communication systems.

Critical Computer Systems Architectures - CCSYA: Fundamental components of computer architectures: Processors, Memory, Memory hierarchy, Buses, I/O interfaces; Concepts of System on a Chip, Embedded Systems, High Performance Computing Systems, multi-/many-cores; OS and hypervisor handling.

Last 4 weeks:

Critical Systems Lab - CSLAB: Group project to implement critical systems or components applying concepts from the previous courses.

2nd Semester

First 11 weeks:

Formal Verification of Critical Applications - FVOCA: Foundations of formal verification of software and its support via automated and assisted theorem provers; Runtime verification based on formal specifications and contracts; Software code verification techniques and tools.

RTOS Programming - RTOSP: Real-Time Operating Systems, their architecture and operation; Mechanisms to ensure real-time requirements; Programing components and device drivers for RTOS, including scheduler and synchronization mechanisms.

Systems of Systems - SYOSY: Architectures for systems integration focusing upon system-oriented architectures, communication middlewares and paradigms of distributed computation; Integration of real-time/safety-critical aspects.

Project Management and Development - PMDEV: Systems engineering; Project development and management, including quality management, heterogeneous team coordination; Leadership and communication skills.

Last 4 weeks:

Industry-Driven Use-Case Engineering - IDUCE: Team system development with use-cases provided by industry partners, following industry-driven methodologies.

3rd Semester

First 11 weeks:

Advanced Programming Paradigms - APROP: Programming paradigms and languages for critical systems; Functional programming; Parallel and concurrent programming.

Dependability and Cybersecurity - DASYS: Risks and pathways of threats to critical systems (advanced driver-assistance systems, IoT, mobile applications, Industry 4.0); Intrusion detection and response; Cryptographic protocols and secure applications; Interplay between security and other non-functional properties.

Intelligent, Autonomous, Cooperative Systems - IACOS: Cooperative and intelligent vehicles, with hands-on implementation; Robotic development frameworks and simulation tools; Cooperation and artificial intelligence, focusing on deep-learning, computer vision and sensor fusion.

Application Scenarios and Case Studies - ASACS: Concrete industrial application examples of critical computing systems in various application domains: automotive, factory automation, medical, space, aeronautics, banking, etc; Case studies of successful and failed implementations.

Last 4 weeks:

Thesis Research Plan Development - TRPDE: Survey of the state-of-the-art; Identification of scientific and technological challenges; Planning; Scientific writing and presentation of results; Industrial seminars.

4th Semester

Project/Thesis/Internship - TMECS: Master thesis dissertation/project/internship; expected to occur in industrial context.