Course Syllabus

INSTRUCTOR:

• Prof. John Lockwood: lockwood@ipoint.vlsi.uiuc.edu
  

TEACHING ASSISTANTS:

• Jay Moorman: jrmoorma@uiuc.edu

LAB ASSISTANTS:

• Dan Restell: restelli@uiuc.edu
• Mike Carter: mcarter@uiuc.edu
• Johanna Canniff: canniff@uiuc.edu
• Neil Kumar: s-kumar3@uiuc.edu
• Carlos Manzanedo: manzaned@uiuc.edu
• Patrick Spizzo: spizzo@uiuc.edu

PREREQUISITE:

• ECE 290 or CS 231 or consent of instructor.
• Students may not receive credit for both ECE 291 and CS 232.

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

1. To understand the principles and techniques of machine-level programming.
2. To learn to use computers for real time data acquisition and control of input-output devices.
3. To design and implement complex programs.
4. To learn the organization of a real microprocessor.

LECTURES: 269 Everitt Lab. Tuesday & Thursday, 10:30am - 11:50am

• Lecture Notes are available on-line from the ECE291 web site.
• These notes serve as an outline for the course, not as a substitute for regular classroom attendance. Additional discussions, clearifications, and examples are provided in the classroom.
• Praise is given to the first student that finds an error in the notes.

LABORATORY: 238 Everitt Laboratory. 333-9591

• Your key card provides 24 hour access to the laboratory (except during official university holidays).
• The instructor and TAs will be in the laboratory according to the schedule posted on-line.
• Lab etiquette:
  • Cleanliness: Keep food and drinks away from the machines. Put trash in wastebaskets.
  • Thirft: Use the printer sparingly. On-line assignments are not meant to be printed on paper.
  • Safety: Do not prop the door open at night or on weekends.
  • Manners: Use headphones when listening to music. Not all of your fellow classmates will enjoy your taste in CDs or MP3s.

ELECTRONIC MAIL AND NEWS: uiuc.class.ece291

• Every student must have Internet access, a web browser, and an e-mail account.
  • Engineering students have logins on the Engineering Workstation Laboratory machines.
  • Free UNIX accounts can be obtained from CCSO.
  • Web browsers, news readers, and Telnet are installed on the machines in the laboratory.
• Read the ECE291 news group frequently for important information about the course.
  • Updated deadlines
  • HW and MP hints
• News group etiquette: You may read and post announcements, questions, answers, and comments about any aspect of the course. Flaming and personal attacks are unacceptable. Compliments, and public recognition of good deeds by students and staff members, are always welcome.

WWW: http://www.ece.uiuc.edu/~ece291/

• The ECE291 web page contains important information about the course.
• Course Information: Announcements, Test, HW, and MP due dates.
• Homeworks: Homework assignments are posted and graded on-line.
• Machine Problems: Machine problem assignments are available on-line.
• Grades: Your grades will be posted by the private ID number you select for HW0.

EXAMINATIONS:

• There will be two examinations and a final.
• A single, 8.5" x 11", 2-sided page of notes may be used during the first exam.
• Two pages of notes are allowed for Exam II.
• Three pages of notes are allowed for the Final.
• See the class outline for scheduled Exam dates.

HOMEWORK:

• Assigned approximately every two weeks.
• Submitted and graded on-line via the WWW.
• May be resubmitted for higher credit until 5pm of the due date.
• See the class outline for scheduled assignments and due dates.
• There is No credit for late homework.

MACHINE PROBLEMS:

• Deadlines: To receive full credit for a machine problem you must demonstrate your correctly working program to a TA or the instructor by 5:00 p.m. on the day that the machine problem is due. 10 points per weekday will be deducted after the deadline.
• Subroutines: Except for MP0, You will be given library versions of subroutines that you are assigned to write. You may use these library versions to help you develop your own program. If you are unable to complete all of the assigned subroutines, then you may use a library version of a subroutine, with loss of credit. There will be no credit for programs that do not work.
• Bonus Points: You are encouraged to turn in your assignments early. You will be awarded an extra point for each working day (Mon-Fri) the assignment is early. You may earn a maximum of 5 points (1 week early). Bonus points are worth just as much as normal points,
• See the class outline for scheduled due dates.
• Start Early: There are far fewer machines in the lab than students in the class. Long waits to use a computer or demo a machine problem can be avoided if you start and finish your machine problems on a timely schedule.

GRADING:

• ECE291 scores are based on a 1000-point system. A student's total score is computed as the sum of the raw points earned on the machine problems, exams, and final plus one-fourth (1/4) of the sum of the raw points earned on the homework.
• The approximate breakdown of points for each assignment is shown in the table below. "Project" refers to the final group project at the end of the semester.

	Homework	Machine Problem	Exam	Final
0	25	25
1	75	50	150	200
2	75	50	150
3	75	50
4	75	50
5	75	50
Project		125
Subtotal	400	400	300	200
HW/4	100	400	300	200
Total	1000 points

• Grades are assigned by calculating your position relative to the top 10% of the class.
  • X=weighted average top 10% of the total scores
  • If your point total >= 0.95*X, Grade=A
  • else if total >= 0.85*X, Grade=B
  • else if total >= 0.75*X, Grade=C
  • else if total >= 0.65*X, Grade=D
  • else Grade=F

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY:

• The faculty of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering expects all students to conduct their academic work with the high ethical standards of the engineering profession.
• Each exam, machine problem, and homework assignment must represent your own work. You may help other students by discussing assignments, but you must not copy anyone's solution. Violations of these standards of academic integrity will result in appropriate disciplinary action.

TEXTS, BOOKS, SUPPLIES, AND MANUALS

• On-line Materials
  • J. W. Lockwood, ECE291 Lecture notes: http://www.ece.uiuc.edu/~ece291/lecture/
  • R. Hyde, The Art of Assembly Language Programming
    http://webster.ucr.edu/Page_asm/ArtofAssembly/artofasm.html
• Required Texts and Supplies
• ECE 291 Laboratory Notes. (Available through IEEE Student Branch, Room 54 Everitt Lab)
• Microsoft MASM 6.1 or 6.11 Software
  
• Card key. Available from Rody Negangard, Rm 159, EL.
• Optional Material
  • B. B. Brey, The Intel Microprocessors 8086/8088 - Pentium, Merrill (MacMillan)
• Other Books available at the Grainger Engineering Library.
• W. B. Giles, Assembly Language Programming for the Intel 80XXX Family, Macmillan, 1991.
• R. L. Gray, Macro Assembler Programming for the IBM PC and Compatibles, Macmillan, 1989.
• H. Hahn, Assembler Inside and Out, Osborne-McGraw Hill, 1992.
• R. E. Haskell, Introduction to Computer Engineering- Logic Design and the 8086 Microprocessor, Prentice Hall, 1993.
• J. L. Jones and A. M. Flynn, Mobile Robots: Inspiration to Implementation, A. K. Peters, Wellesley,MA 1993.
• Pentium Family User's Manual, Volume 3: Architecture and Programming Manual, Intel Corporation, 1995.
• J. Sanchez and M. Canton, Numerical Programming the 387, 486, and Pentium, McGraw-Hill, 1995.
• Other Resources
• Copies of exams from previous semesters will be available from HKN.
• The locked cabinet in the ECE 291 lab has a small collection of reference books on programming and interfacing. Please ask the TAs for access to the cabinet.