CS 452/652 - Real-Time Programming

Introduction

This course is about writing embedded systems. You will write C/C++ programs on the undergraduate machines, compile them, and download them to run stand-alone on computers that control an electric train.

Course Information (Spring 2009)

Instructor:
- Bill Cowan, [wW][mM][cC][oO][wW][aA][nN] AT cgl DOT UWaterloo DOT ca
- You will find a lot of useful information on his cs452 web pages.
- You can find a backup, possibly a day or two out-of-date copy here.
TAs:
- Matei Negulescu
- Earl Oliver, eaoliver AT uwaterloo DOT ca
Class:
- 10:30-11:20 MWF, MC 4064
Final exam:
- TBD
Lab Room:
- MC 3018
Newsgroup:
- uw.cs.cs452 (Read every day!)
Assignments:
- Assignments, Mark Breakdown and Due Dates
Required Reading
- Lab Manual (in progress, Old Version)
- Kernel Specification
Spring 2009, Instructor's Slides

Here

Course Resources

Tutorial Notes
Data Sheets
What you need to know about ELF
Using an Emulator
Eos Hints
Eos Interrupts
Eos Serial Ports
I/O Port Reference
Simple Crosscompiler Guide - contributed by Michael Grigoriev
xterm control sequences, most of which are usable on the WYSE terminals

Tools and Formats

GCC, the GNU Compiler Collection.
GRUB, the bootloader we use. The CS452-patched version, including disk images. Use this if you want to make more boot floppies.
Newlib, our C library.
Multiboot, the boot format we use with GRUB.
ELF Specification (postscript), text transcription, the Executable and Linkable Format we use for our binaries. See also the short CS452-specific tutorial on ELF.

The Trains

The train set currently in use is an off-the-shelf digitally-controlled HO train manufactured by Märklin in Germany.

Märklin Trains Website
Märklin Digital Interface Commands
The track layout (track A) (postscript)
The track layout (track B) (postscript)
The track lengths (postscript)
Track layout data (usable for your train tracker/project)

Other Web Resources

Intel 468 Programmer's Reference Manuals
These manuals the Intel names and assembler syntax; gcc uses a slightly different style.
80x86 Instruction Set (1) (2)
This is a listing of all the Intel x86 instructions. Unfortunately, it uses the Intel names for the instructions; gcc uses a slightly different style for names.

Neat Stuff

Perhaps you want to read this while waiting for those long compiles...

A teensy tiny ELF executable
QNX, a realtime operating system that has its roots in CS452

Problems?

If there are hardware problems in the lab, please report them by posting to the newsgroup. Fraser reads it regularly, and can only do something if he knows about the problem. Please make sure that the problem isn't a result of software bugs first.

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