UCLA ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT: EE 180D: SYSTEMS DESIGN

I NTRODUCTION

TO

EE 180D

O U T L IN E
COURSE INFORMATION ........................................................................................................................ 2
Professor W. J. Kaiser ........................................................................................................................... 2
Course Web Site..................................................................................................................................... 2
Contact Information .............................................................................................................................. 2
Office Hours .......................................................................................................................................... 2
Location Information ............................................................................................................................. 2
TEACHING ASSISTANT ............................................................................................................................... 2
Contact Information .............................................................................................................................. 2
INTRODUCTIONS ..................................................................................................................................... 3
COURSE INFORMATION ........................................................................................................................ 3
Course Objectives: ................................................................................................................................ 3
Course Plan: .......................................................................................................................................... 4
Committments: ....................................................................................................................................... 4
Lecture Notes:........................................................................................................................................ 4
Course Output: ...................................................................................................................................... 4
Grading Plan: ........................................................................................................................................ 4
ATTENDANCE: ..................................................................................................................................... 5
Course Mission and engineering today: ................................................................................................ 5
Lecture rules: ......................................................................................................................................... 5
Laboratory Rules: .................................................................................................................................. 5
Project Participation Metrics:............................................................................................................... 6
Engineering Presentations .................................................................................................................... 6
SCHEDULE ................................................................................................................................................. 7
INTRODUCTION TO EMBEDDED NETWORKED SYSTEMS ......................................................... 8
DESIGN PROJECTS FOR 2015.............................................................................................................. 11
YOUR NEXT STEPS ................................................................................................................................ 12
LINUX, JAVA, ANDROID, AND SMARTPHONES ............................................................................ 13
GETTING STARTED ............................................................................................................................... 13
PROCESS FOR LEARNING: ................................................................................................................. 15
DOCUMENTATION ................................................................................................................................ 15
EE180D BACKGROUND: PROJECT HISTORY ................................................................................ 16
CLASS INTRODUCTIONS ..................................................................................................................... 16
EE180D WIRELESS HEALTH ............................................................................................................... 17
EE180D PROJECTS IN 2015 ................................................................................................................... 19

UCLA ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT: EE 180D: SYSTEMS DESIGN

COURSE INFORMATION

PROFESSOR W. J. KAISER
Background: Ford, JPL, UCLA - 1994 (Chairman 1996-2000)
Research Programs with UCLA Undergraduate and Graduate Students: Networked Embedded Systems for
applications in environmental monitoring, medical informatics, and others. Research
Wireless sensor networks
Low power electronics including low power RF CMOS integrated systems
Low power sensor interface and signal processing circuits and systems
Microsensor systems
Energy Efficient Computing Systems
Wireless Health Systems and Institute

COURSE WEB SITE

Several resources to be provided.

CONTACT INFORMATION
Office: 56-147L Engineering IV
Cell Phone: 310-593-1967
E-mail (preferred): kaiser@ee.ucla.edu
Web: www.ee.ucla.edu/faculty/bios/kaiser.htm

OFFICE HOURS
Instructor will be present in all lab sessions on M, W, and Th.
LOCATION INFORMATION
M
W

10:00
10:00

12:00
2:00

E-IV 44-110
E-IV 44-110

TEACHING ASSISTANT

CONTACT INFORMATION
Michael Wasko
micwasko@gmail.com

UCLA ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT: EE 180D: SYSTEMS DESIGN

INTRODUCTIONS

Your background
Your interests
Your goals for EE180D
Please select partner laboratory teams will be student pairs provided with access to remotely
accessible embedded systems
Projects will include student groups

COURSE INFORMATION

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

1. Provide real world experience in engineering team-oriented design and development

a. Focus on hands-on design and development
2. Course and Project Goals
a. Co-developed with industry partners
b. Projects directed to important healthcare impact, products, and business.
3. Provide experience in engineering program process
a. Project Planning
b. Algorithm Design
c. Architecture Selection or Design
d. System Design
e. Interface Definition
f. Team Software Development
g. Progress tracking
4. Provide background in important technologies:
a. Embedded computing systems
b. Wireless networking technology
c. Distributed systems
d. Sensor technology
e. The hardware/software interface
f. Embedded system software

UCLA ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT: EE 180D: SYSTEMS DESIGN

COURSE PLAN:

1. Focus on real world experience in engineering team-oriented design task

2. Problems focused on both primary societal impact as well as commercial product

development

5. Some projects will be pursued in parallel with an objective for groups to obtain the

optimized design and best performance.

6. Students will have individual support as well as group support

7. Course projects include competition for best performance
COMMITTMENTS:

3. Instructor and Teaching Assistants

a. Lecture presentation and answering questions
b. Instruction and guidance in project planning
c. Assistance with projects
d. Individual support and group support
e. Office hour support
4. Students:
1. Attendance at lectures and laboratories
2. Questions: In class, after class, office hours, and e-mail anytime and all the time
3. Feedback to instructor on any interests, concerns, requests, need for help
4. Effort in reviewing lectures, learning, and presentations
LECTURE NOTES:

1. Available at Course Web Site

2. In-Class combination of viewing notes electronically and use of whiteboard and
equipment
COURSE OUTPUT:

1. Engineering Design Documents with design, development, and test plans with
revisions
2. Weekly Engineering Progress Journals describing plans and progress
3. Rapid Progress Report Summaries
4. Midterm individual technical presentations
5. Final individual technical presentations
6. Presentations describing, and demonstrating progress and understanding
7. System implementation demonstrating systematic development with reference to
design
8. System validation
9. Laboratory Exercise Homework in form of projects and problems
GRADING PLAN:

Project Participation (Subjective Measure based on Journal)

30%

UCLA ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT: EE 180D: SYSTEMS DESIGN

Midterm Presentation
Final Presentation, Demonstration, and Report
Laboratory Exercises and Laboratory Quizzes

20%
30%
20%

ATTENDANCE:

1) Signup attendance sheet Collected within 10 Minutes

2) Maximum of four absences in two quarters. Each must be accompanied by an explanation in
advance.
3) Excess of four absences will be mandatory grade reduction from A to A-, A- to B+, etc.

COURSE MISSION AND ENGINEERING TODAY:

1.
2.
3.
4.

Competition
Product evolution
Preparation for interviews
Preparation for graduate program application and research

LECTURE RULES:

1.
2.
3.
4.

Avoid late arrival or absence

In class review quizzes
No use of notebooks or workstations during lecture without explicit, prior permission
If lecture topics seem uninteresting, please contact the instructor and we can provide
background and adapt lectures

LABORATORY RULES:

1. Attention to EE180D topics

a. No work on other courses or topics
b. Use of all computing equipment is directed to EE180D no examples of general

web browsing, etc.

c. If there is an instance where you perceive your work is temporarily completed
and next steps are not identified, then you should immediately decide on next
steps. There is never an excuse to be idle.

2. Always ensure that next steps on projects are known and that next actions are known to all
a. Every lab session should end with your group reviewing all next steps, assignments, and
responsibilities.
3. Team Assessment on diligent progress towards committments
a. Frequent discussions with instructor and teaching assistant
b. Each team member is expected to have completed assignments for example
familiarization with a tool, development of software, or completion of measurements
c. Status of any task will be asked of any team member.
d. Everyone receives a check / no-check for having properly / improperly answered a
question

UCLA ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT: EE 180D: SYSTEMS DESIGN

PROJECT PARTICIPATION METRICS:

1. Documentation in Weekly Engineering Progress Journal:

a. Documentation follows standard engineering team procedures
b. Documentation should describe progress summary including problems discovered,
problems solved
c. Documentation should cite references used.
d. Include drawings and sketches
2. Focus in Laboratory:
a. Must be committed to project and to supporting team members
b. If you encounter an apparently unavoidable problem, let instructor know and we will find
a way to continue.
c. Be prepared at all times to explain to your team members, Teaching Assistant, and
Instructor, your status, and plans in terms of our course topics and materials.
d. Participation means know at all times exactly your objectives and those of your team. This means
always having the fullest possible understanding of your status, your role in the team, and
your contributions to the group architecture and mission.
3. Project Progress Towards Goals
a. Demonstration of ability to use available resources to seek a solution to requirements or
problems encountered (resources include team members, Teaching Assistant,
Instructors)
b. Timely identification of challenges
c. A project need not be completed according to an initial plan (since we may discover
unanticipated challenges.) The project may be descoped and replanned as we proceed.
This may be acceptable, but, must only occur with timely notification and discussion.
ENGINEERING PRESENTATIONS

1. Rapid Weekly Progress Reporting (each Wednesday in BH5272)

2. Engineering presentations are critical to progress for engineers. Presentations are made to
colleagues, supervisors, management, customers, the engineering and education communities.
3. Midterm Presentation
a) Description of Project Goals, Technical Approach, Schedule, Status
b) Standard, formal, Powerpoint template
c) Includes team demonstration
4. Final Presentation
a) Review of Project Goals, Technical Approach, Schedule, Status of Complete System
b) Standard, formal, Powerpoint template
c) Should include team demonstration that may take many possible forms
5. Presentation Metrics
a) Adequate description of Goals, Technical Approach, and Status in terms of course content
and information derived from references
b) Ability to answer questions in terms of topics addressed in Lecture.

UCLA ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT: EE 180D: SYSTEMS DESIGN

SCHEDULE

Week

Topics

Course Introduction
Course Project Systems
Wireless Sensor Systems
Motion Sensing and Signal Processing Tools
Motion Classification Tools

Sensing Technology Continued

Introduction to Networked Embedded Systems and Embedded Processors

Embedded Processor Architecture

Embedded Processor Performance and Code Optimization

Embedded Linux Operating System

Midterm Presentations

Midterm Presentations
Embedded Linux On-Line Laboratory Introduction

Embedded Linux Memory Technology

Embedded Linux Scheduling and Timing Technology

Embedded Linux and Multicore Systems

Processor to Peripheral Interfaces: Device Drivers, Interrupts, Interrupt Operations

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Embedded Linux storage systems

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Project demonstrations and final presentations

Sensing Principles
Sensor Technology

UCLA ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT: EE 180D: SYSTEMS DESIGN

INTRODUCTION TO EMBEDDED NETWORKED SYSTEMS

1. Definition of Embedded Computers: Devices that are installed within other devices, instruments,
structures, vehicles, or other assets to provide control capability, user interfaces, or other features.
Embedded devices operate without displaying conventional computing interfaces or requirements. The
notion that a computer is present may be hidden from the view of a user.
a.

Vast range of past embedded applications

i. Automotive vehicles carry as many as 60 processors in a high end vehicle
ii. Transport aircraft rely on embedded FADEC (Fully Automated Digital Engine Control)
and automatic landing systems.
iii. Medical devices including pacemakers carry embedded computers
iv. Consumer products (toasters, musical instruments, electronically damped skis)
v. Defense systems: unmanned aerial vehicles, security and communication systems

2. Evolution
a.

Early systems: Almost all applications were standalone, fixed functionality systems
i. Limited processing capability (8 or 16 bit word length), limited memory (less then 1M),
limited algorithm complexity and allowed typically only one operating process.

b. Moores Law progress has delivered high performance processor capability (32-bit word length),
large memory capacity (8-64M), and flash memory, or compact hard disk storage.
c.

This enables the embedded platform to host a complete operating system with many features
and the ability to support multiple processes

d. Wireline networking has become inexpensive

e.

Wireless networking has become inexpensive and is becoming pervasive

UCLA ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT: EE 180D: SYSTEMS DESIGN

3. Embedded Networked Systems may now be incorporated into a diverse array of products and structures.
a.

Networked embedded systems may provide sensing, control, and communication.

b. Networked embedded systems may provide connectivity between the physical world assets and
the Internet.
c.

Networked embedded systems may exploit many forms of wireless communication to enable fast
and convenient deployment and operation

d. Business motivators: new products, new services, improved services, safety and security.
4. Applications for embedded networked systems are pervasive
a.

Healthcare: Monitoring of biomedical implants, instruments, patient care systems

b. Vehicle Systems: monitoring, user support

c.

Security: Defense and civil security for asset management, intrusion detection, threat
identification

d. Structures: Architectural systems

e.

Entertainment Technology: Sensors and Displays

UCLA ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT: EE 180D: SYSTEMS DESIGN

f.

Education

g. Environmental Monitoring

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UCLA ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT: EE 180D: SYSTEMS DESIGN

DESIGN PROJECTS FOR 2015

Motivations:
1) State-of-the-art project that prepares each student for next steps in industry or graduate
programs or both.
2) Project of primary national interest
3) Experience in embedded system product development
4) Project that engages everyone as a team
5) Ample design opportunity
6) Ample support and training on each task
7) Many choices for design tasks
8) Provides exposure to full set of technologies
9) Each team member may focus on her or his area, but, has opportunity to view and learn about
entire technology system.

End-to-End Product Development Focus

1) Wireless Health Systems
Technology Topics
1) Embedded Computing
2) Software system development for devices that autonomously sense, react, communicate, and
cooperate.
3) Wireless Networking
4) Multiple network forms and applications
5) Sensing Systems
6) Multiple sensing principles, sensor types, and objectives

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UCLA ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT: EE 180D: SYSTEMS DESIGN

YOUR NEXT STEPS

This is a great time to learn about integrated hardware and software systems

What will be the scope of our software development?

o

Course Projects

We will be developing algorithms for mobile computing systems supporting wireless

sensors.

Implementation will be supported by Matlab

Laboratories:

We will be developing compact applications, but, ones that directly reveal the
hardware software interface. This will include interfaces to mechanical systems,
sensors, and to wireless networking.

Our processor platforms are accessible

Our operating system is Linux. Why?

Most rapidly growing embedded operating system

Primary component of all Android technology

Open and accessible

Available for modification

Typical operating system environment for engineering tools

o

Simulators

Design automation tools

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UCLA ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT: EE 180D: SYSTEMS DESIGN

LINUX, JAVA, ANDROID, AND SMARTPHONES

GETTING STARTED

Primary project language includes Matlab

o

Most important system design tool

Primary laboratory language is C. Why?

o

The operating system, modules, drivers, and utilities are developed in C. Some utilities are
developed in shell scripts

It is certain that understanding C will be a requirement in your career.

You can start right away! You can also work from home.

Embedded Networked Systems Design

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UCLA ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT: EE 180D: SYSTEMS DESIGN

G. Pottie and W. Kaiser

Book royalties donated to HSSEAS

Please purchase the latest edition of this book:

Beginning Linux Programming
Authors
Neil Matthew, Richard Stones, Krishna Vedati
Publisher
Wrox Press, Chicago IL and Birmingham GB
WWW book information with Source Code
http://www.wrox.com/WileyCDA/WroxTitle/Beginning-Linux-Programming-4thEdition.productCd-0470147628.html

Other outstanding textbooks:

o Operating Systems
Modern Operating Systems by A. S. Tanenbaum
o Computer Engineering
Computer Organization and Design: The Hardware/Software Interface by
Patterson and Hennessy.

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UCLA ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT: EE 180D: SYSTEMS DESIGN

PROCESS FOR LEARNING:

Our class will focus on hands on work

o

Each day, M, W, and Th will include laboratory and interactive, collaborative, design and
development with our team

We will each have an opportunity to focus on areas of interest to each individual, while
maintaining our team partnerships

We will each have an opportunity to learn about the entire system, all the technologies, and
contribute to all design decisions.

A first key step is our work together to identify your interests.

Your instructor will be working with each student.

Experience from teaching project and design courses in the 10 week schedule indicates that the
journal process is very effective.

DOCUMENTATION

Design Document

Engineering Journal Document

o

Motivation for Maintaining an Engineering Journal

Enables design by a team

Enables efficient development

Retention of material

Organization of learning

What to include:

The Engineering Journal should be updated with the following:

o

Any new findings and progress that modify analysis, algorithms, or any other concepts
relating to our implementation approach, should be noted here. For example, a modification
in a motion control algorithm, a new and complicating feature discovered in our radio
system, or other finding will result in a modified approach.

The documentation section should be updated also as new references, web sites, code
examples, or other data is discovered and used.

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UCLA ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT: EE 180D: SYSTEMS DESIGN

o

The Progress section will be the part of the Engineering Journal that is updated most
extensively. We would expect to see one or more pages of progress description every week.
In a large team, there may about 1 page per team member. This section may be lengthy and
detailed documentation here is important. Both successful developments and development
paths that have been terminated should be noted. This is important for the entire team.

EE180D BACKGROUND: PROJECT HISTORY

1.

EE180D Innovations
o

Many inventions!

Wireless Health

Development of instructional technology

Many graduate research opportunities and publications

Lengthy development of unique platform for embedded system education by many graduate
student and undergraduate student researchers

CLASS INTRODUCTIONS

Class survey to be distributed today.

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UCLA ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT: EE 180D: SYSTEMS DESIGN

EE180D WIRELESS HEALTH

Wireless Health today combines novel sensing, embedded computing, wireless networking, and high
performance enterprise computing to monitor physiological variables, infer subject status, detect disease
conditions, and guide individuals towards the best treatment and promote health and wellness. This new
frontier is directed to fundamentally advancing human performance for objectives in health, productivity, and
even athletic achievement.
The capability for continuous monitoring of physiological status and detailed behavior combined with
individualized guidance will have a fundamental impact on healthcare delivery. Indeed, the current time is
historic in that in the future, for the first time, the outcomes of treatment, the decisions regarding healthcare
pathways, the effectiveness and accuracy of clinical trials will all be affected by this new capability and forever
change healthcare, medical research and education, and related fields. Research led by UCLA has invested
early in the creation of the broad-based and fine-grained continuous monitoring and guidance methods.
Services associated with continuous monitoring and guidance will soon empower all individuals to understand
and promote their health and wellness, assure outcomes of treatment and rehabilitation, and advance human
performance.
The Wireless Health field is virtually unprecedented in affording compelling research opportunities led by our
clinician experts. Engineering research that provides solutions through development of fundamental
algorithms, embedded computing hardware and software implementation, new sensing principles and new
sensor systems, and complete system implementation and delivery to the healthcare enterprise. These
research achievements are now also accompanied by delivery of systems that are serving many patients today
in the US and in 12 other nations that my group supports in an international trial.
Monitoring of human activity is one of the most important objectives for Wireless Health. The Wireless
Health Institute has established a lead in this area.

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UCLA ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT: EE 180D: SYSTEMS DESIGN

The following is an abstract from a publication by our colleagues: Dr. Bruce Dobkin (Co-Director of UCLA
WHI) and Dr. Andrew Dorsch.

Mobile health tools that enable clinicians and researchers to monitor the type, quantity,
and quality of everyday activities of patients and trial participants have long been needed to
improve daily care, design more clinically meaningful randomized trials of interventions, and
establish cost-effective, evidence-based practices. Inexpensive, unobtrusive wireless sensors,
including accelerometers, gyroscopes, and pressure-sensitive textiles, combined with Internetbased communications and machine-learning algorithms trained to recognize upper- and lowerextremity movements, have begun to fulfill this need. Continuous data from ankle triaxial
accelerometers, for example, can be transmitted from the home and community via WiFi or a
smartphone to a remote data analysis server. Reports can include the walking speed and
duration of every bout of ambulation, spatiotemporal symmetries between the legs, and the type,
duration, and energy used during exercise. For daily care, this readily accessible flow of realworld information allows clinicians to monitor the amount and quality of exercise for risk factor
management and compliance in the practice of skills. Feedback may motivate better selfmanagement as well as serve home-based rehabilitation efforts. Monitoring patients with
chronic diseases and after hospitalization or the start of new medications for a decline in daily
activity may help detect medical complications before rehospitalization becomes necessary. For
clinical trials, repeated laboratory-quality assessments of key activities in the community, rather
than by clinic testing, self-report, and ordinal scales, may reduce the cost and burden of travel,
improve recruitment and retention, and capture more reliable, valid, and responsive ratio-scaled
outcome measures that are not mere surrogates for changes in daily impairment, disability, and
functioning.
Dobkin BH, Dorsch A., The promise of mHealth: daily activity monitoring and outcome assessments by
wearable sensors., Neurorehabil Neural Repair. 2011 Nov-Dec;25(9):788-98.

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UCLA ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT: EE 180D: SYSTEMS DESIGN

EE180D PROJECTS IN 2015

A) Physiological Monitoring Acoustic Products
a. Complete Abdominal Acoustic system characterization and development
b. Acoustic Sensor Arrays and Array Signal Processing
c. Acoustic Event Localization
d. Sensor Technology: Principles, Tranducers, Interface Circuit Systems
e. Human Digestive Abdominal Acoustics
f. Respiratory Thoracic Acoustics
B) Dental Health Acoustics
a. Gnathoacoustics
b. Wearable systems
c. Sensor Systems
d. Signal Processing
C) Biomedical Fluid Management
a. Pneumostat
b. Transducer and Sensor Systems
c. Optoelectronics
d. Capacitive Sensing
D) Posture Monitoring
a. Detect and guide posture
b. Sedentary office workplace
c. Standing posture
d. Event-specific Athlete posture
E) Smart Exercise Band
a. Precise and safe resistance training
b. Neurological and Orthopaedic Rehab
c. Complete end-to-end product development
d. Trials
F) Managed Nutrition Guidance (includes physician guidance)
a. Athlete
b. Well Subject
i. Modeling of motility characteristics
c. Nutrition Schedule and Quantity optimization
i. Athlete Nutrition (includes physician guidance)
1. Training
2. Preparation for Competion
3. Recovery
4. Sleep
G) ICR Human Performance
a. Monitoring and Guiding Advancement in Heart and Lung Function by Training
b. Measuring Heart Function in athletes
c. Measuring Lung Function in athletes
i. Respiratory rate and depth
H) General Purpose WHI Gateway Embedded Linux Platform
a. Intended to support broad objectives

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UCLA ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT: EE 180D: SYSTEMS DESIGN

i. Analog sampling
ii. Digital interfaces to auxiliary systems
iii. Network interfaces
iv. ARM QuadCore Instructional Platform
I) General Purpose Wireless Health Garment - Sensor Suit
a. Integration of WHI components with wearable systems including wireless recharge
b. Athletic applications
J) Fall Detection Risk Reduction for Clinic Room
a. Detect motion
b. Detect location
c. Predict risk
d. Provide warning interventions
K) PRIME System: Patient Monitoring and Guidance
a. Addresses Grand Challenge in development of interventions for stress, migraine, and
depression.

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