Design and Implementation of a High-Performance Embedded Course for the next-generation workforce

Embedded system design is covered on a typical undergraduate curriculum in Computer Engineering using standard embedded microcontrollers with limited features. Powerful embedded microprocessors (e.g. Intel Atom®) offer a wider range of opportunities for learning skills in high-demand in industry today, but this is not covered in a standard Computer Engineering curriculum. Oakland University partnered with Intel in order to develop and implement an embedded curriculum that meets the needs of the next-generation of graduating students entering the workforce. We present the results of the design and implementation of a new embedded curriculum targeted to powerful embedded processors. This includes the design of a brand-new senior undergraduate course along with a comprehensive tutorial on high-performance embedded programming. We provided students with carefully designed activities that emphasize the optimal usage of powerful microprocessors for embedded applications. The students became proficient in techniques to maximize the performance of an embedded application by optimizing the use of computer resources via techniques such as parallelism and pipelining. The embedded curriculum was deployed in a classroom and a laboratory setting. The learning materials (course notes, assignments, laboratory experiments, step-by-step tutorials) are made freely available online. Results are encouraging and the course will be offered on a regular basis.