An Experimental Nexos Laboratory Using Virtual Xinu

The Nexos Project is a joint effort between Marquette University, the University of Buffalo, and the University of Mississippi to build curriculum materials and a supporting experimental laboratory for hands-on projects in computer systems courses. The approach focuses on inexpensive, flexible, commodity embedded hardware, freely available development and debugging tools, and a fresh implementation of a classic operating system, Embedded Xinu, that is ideal for student exploration. This paper describes an extension to the Nexos laboratory that includes a new target platform composed of Qemu virtual machines. Virtual Xinu addresses two challenges that limit the effectiveness of Nexos. First, potential faculty adopters have clearly indicated that even with the current minimal monetary cost of installation, the hardware modifications, and time investment remain troublesome factors that scare off interested educators. Second, overcoming the inherent complications that arise due to the shared subnet that result in students\u27 projects interfering with each other in ways that are difficult to recreate, debug, and understand. Specifically, this paper discusses porting the Xinu operating systems to Qemu virtual hardware, developing the virtual networking platform, and results showing success using Virtual Xinu in the classroom during one semester of Operating Systems at the University of Mississippi

Identifying values and beliefs in an outcomes-based curriculum

The introduction of Curriculum 2005 and the National Curriculum Statement emphasised the Outcomes-Based Education approach to school education. In an analysis of Curriculum 2005 and the National Curriculum Statement, value and belief systems are identified and integrated in most of the eight learning areas. The multicultural and multireligious character of the South African society holds important implications for education, as the different values that are inherent in each belief system have to be accommodated in societal structures. Research has indicated that most teachers have not played an active or successful role in teaching different values and beliefs in schools. Most of these teachers will now be responsible for the implementation of C2005 and the NCS and their associated values. There is therefore a need for teachers to be sensitised to the different values embedded in each belief system and all cultureal orientations. The prevalence of values and belief systems in the OBE curricula of C2005 and the NCS will have to be acknowledged, identified, and promoted. South African Journal of Education Vol.24(1) 2004: 25-3

Curriculum Renewal: Barriers to Successful Curriculum Change and Suggestions for Improvement

This article examines the practical difficulties encountered when a renewed curriculum is implemented in higher education. Attention has been given in the literature to the importance of coherent curriculum and approaches to curriculum design. Less attention has been paid to whether the renewed curriculum can be faithfully implemented within a given university context and how constraints to implementation change the curriculum design. Practical barriers to implementation arose from several sources. These included: how to ensure that all staff understood and supported the new approaches, in the context of a casualized academic workforce; the need for academics to find sufficient time to engage with the renewal process and complete the necessary work to implement the new curriculum, in the context of intensification of academic work; how to support academic staff to gain an understanding of curriculum design changes in a context where few staff have formally studied education; and, the tension between explicit curriculum philosophies that inform alternative curriculum designs and tacit curriculum philosophies embedded in university systems. The project used an action-learning approach and situated the learning in the context of literature on curriculum, academic work and contemporary university practices, to draw conclusions about how universities can better support successful implementation of curriculum change. The article concludes that successful realisation of curriculum change requires on-going support from management and a flexible environment to ensure that planned changes can be implemented effectively. This has implications for many university systems including, academic support, professional development, academic workloads, and university reporting systems

CESEC Chair – Training Embedded System Architects for the Critical Systems Domain

Increasing complexity and interactions across scientific and tech- nological domains in the engineering of critical systems calls for new pedagogical approach. In this paper, we introduce the CESEC teaching chair. This chair aims at supporting new integrative ap- proach for the initial training of engineer and master curriculum to three engineering school in Toulouse: ISAE, INSA Toulouse and INP ENSEEIHT. It is supported by the EADS Corporate Foundation. In this paper, we highlight the rationale for this chair: need for sys- tem architect with strong foundations on technical domains appli- cable to the aerospace industry. We then introduce the ideal profile for this architect and the various pedagogical approaches imple- mented to reach this objective

Reengineering Biomedical Engineering Curricula: A New Product Development Approach

Product development engineers in medical industries have created design control procedures to ensure high quality designs that are as error-free as possible. The reason is simple; companies must adhere to certain engineering and manufacturing best practices in order to obtain certification of their devices for sale in the US and abroad. We describe here an ongoing effort to apply these industrial best practices to the design and implementation of a novel sequence of undergraduate biomedical computing courses within the Department of Bio-medical Engineering at Marquette University (Milwaukee, Wisconsin). We have tightly integrated our industrial advisory board into this design and development effort. The board has contributed to significantly to the orderly generation of curricular requirements, the development of course implementation designs and the evaluation of these designs per requirements

Interactive Real-Time Embedded Systems Education Infused with Applied Internet Telephony

The transition from traditional circuit-switched phone systems to modern packet-based Internet telephony networks demands tools to support Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) development. In this paper, we introduce the XinuPhone, an integrated hardware/software approach for educating users about VoIP technology on a real-time embedded platform. We propose modular course topics for design-oriented, hands-on laboratory exercises: filter design, timing, serial communications, interrupts and resource budgeting, network transmission, and system benchmarking. Our open-source software platform encourages development and testing of new CODECs alongside existing standards, unlike similar commercial solutions. Furthermore, the supporting hardware features inexpensive, readily available components designed specifically for educational and research users on a limited budget. The XinuPhone is especially good for experimenting with design trade-offs as well as interactions between real-time software and hardware components

Load flow studies on stand alone microgrid system in Ranau, Sabah

This paper presents the power flow or load flow analysis of Ranau microgrid, a standalone microgrid in the district of Ranau,West Coast Division of Sabah. Power flow for IEEE 9 bus also performed and analyzed. Power flow is define as an important tool involving numerical analysis applied to power system. Power flow uses simplified notation such as one line diagram and per-unit system focusing on voltages, voltage angles, real power and reactive power. To achieved that purpose, this research is done by analyzing the power flow analysis and calculation of all the elements in the microgrid such as generators, buses, loads, transformers, transmission lines using the Power Factory DIGSilent 14 software to calculate the power flow. After the analysis and calculations, the results were analysed and compared