University

On this page: Final Year Options | Final Year Project | 2nd-3rd Year Project | Other Project Work | Laboratory Assignments | Support Environment

For general information on the university course followed, see Education.

Goto top of this pageFinal Year Options

Go up this page to 'Engineering Tasks'Analogue and Data Communications

General Areas

full curriculum listing
  • analogue techniques,
  • discrete time / discrete level (i.e. digitised) signal theory,
  • some DSP techniques.
Highlights
  • noise theory,
  • channel capacity,
  • modulation theory and techniques,
  • error detection and correction.

Go up this page to 'Engineering Tasks'Large Digital Systems

General Areas

(no full listing)
  • digital techniques,
  • microprocessors, bit-slice processors
  • software techniques.
Highlights
  • processor design,
  • data storage,
  • memory systems and cache memory,
  • operating system design.

Go up this page to 'Engineering Tasks'Logic Theory and Design

(actually a 'compulsory option' on the 4-year course)

General Areas

full curriculum listing
  • digital techniques.
Highlights
  • logic reduction techniques,
  • synchronous state machines,
  • asynchronous state machines,
  • race hazards and glitches.

Go up this page to 'Engineering Tasks'Signal Processing and Filtering

General Areas

full curriculum listing
  • analogue techniques - mostly filter design,
  • discrete time / discrete level (i.e. digitised) signal theory,
  • digital techniques - mostly DSP processing,
  • DSP techniques.
Highlights
  • filters - poles, zeros, transforms,
  • analogue active filters,
  • standard filter approximations (Butterworth, etc.),
  • discrete (sampled) signals,
  • fourier transforms,
  • correlation and autocorrelation functions,
  • digital filters - FIR and IIR design.

Goto top of this pageFinal Year Project

Project 3D Computer Generated Graphics and Image Processing Techniques
Notes This was a software project.

It consisted of developing 2 programmes - one for image generation (the 3D graphics) and one for the initial stages of image recognition.
DSP Skills 3D computer graphics generation implemented on a general purpose processor.

Basic image processing (edge detection and the like) implemented on a general purpose processor.
Software Skills Medium-size programmes for implementing DSP algorithms with associated data input and user interface. Written in BASIC; hosted on a BBC model B microcomputer.

Goto top of this page2nd-3rd Year Project

Project Design and Build a 'Greenhouse Environment Controller'
'Responsibilities' Unit architecture design.

Digital circuit design; oversight of or input into other circuit design activities.

Software design and some coding.

Unit integration.
Notes This was a group project undertaken as part of the MEng degree.

It involved designing and building a system to control the temperature, watering, and other environmental aspects of a greenhouse. At the end of the project the unit was demonstrated to the industrial sponsors.

In addition to the technical aspects of the project, all the non-technical activities associated with real engineering - commercial, financial, marketing, etc. were simulated.
Hardware Skills Analogue and Mixed Signal
  • general analogue circuits, signal multiplexing and A to D,

Digital

  • standard logic, Z80 microprocessor

Interfaces

  • various environmental sensors (e.g. temperature and light)
  • mains control
Software Skills Software definition in Fortran (!! - chosen because it was the only language known by everyone in the group)

Medium-size programme for embedded real-time control. Written in Z80 assembler.

Goto top of this pageOther Project Work

Circuit Response Analysis Programme Medium-size programme for solve linear electrical circuit equations, with associated data input and user interface. Written in Fortran, hosted on a PDP11-44 running Unix.
Microprocessor Selection for Graphics Applications A paper study to determine the best of several for microprocessors for computer graphics tasks. (i.e. another case of a DSP-type task coded on a general purpose processor)

Among the microprocessors considered were 68000, 9995, Z80 (all coded in assembler)

Incidentally, the 9995 came out fastest (they were rated on speed in the inner loops of various graphics operations).

Goto top of this pageLaboratory Assignments

General Lab
  • basic test equipment usage (meters, waveform generators and analogue oscilloscopes)
  • basic electronic circuits
Real-time Computing
  • basic real time tasks on a Z80 programmed in assembler
Communications
  • various filters, modulated signal spectra, microwaves and antenna polar responses
Machines
  • large synchronous machines, induction motors, DC machines, overload relays

Goto top of this pageSupport Environment

Computer systems
General software
  • standard Unix utilities and compilers only on the PDP11
  • Cortex BASIC and homebrew utilities only on the Cortex

top of page | send me an email

Curriculum Vitae > Career ... > University / John Dubery / 8 April 2000