Athens MSIN Core Course Descriptions

18-342, 18-756, 14-717, 14-720, and 18-842

18-342: Fundamentals of Embedded Systems
This practical, hands-on course introduces students to the basic building-blocks and the underlying scientific principles of embedded systems. The course covers both the hardware and software aspects of embedded procesor architectures, along with operating system fundamentals, such as virtual memory, concurrency, task scheduling and synchronization. Through a series of laboratory projects involving state-of-the-art processors, students will learn to understand implementation details and to write assembly-language and C programs that implement core embedded OS functionality, and that control/debug features such as timers, interrupts, serial communications, flash memory, device drivers and other components used in typical embedded applications. Relevant topics, such as optimization, profiling, digital signal processing, feedback control, real-time operating systems and embedded middleware, will also be discussed. Prerequisites: 18-240.

15-410: Operating System Design and Implementation
Operating System Design and Implementation is a programming-intensive OS class. The core experience is writing a small Unix-inspired OS kernel, in C with some x86 assembly language, which runs on a PC hardware simulator called Simics (and on actual PC hardware if you wish). Work is done in two-person teams, and "team programming" skills (source control, modularity, documentation) are emphasized. Core concepts include the process model, virtual memory, threads, synchronization, and deadlock. Prerequisites include either 15-213 (Systems Programming in C, Basic Architecture) or 18-347 (Computer Architecture). Students should be able to write and debug C code, should know what a register is, should not be mystified by 2's-complement arithmetic, etc. Prerequisites: 15-213

18-842: Distributed Systems
The primary objective of this class is to learn the fundamental principles underlying distributed systems, and apply some of this knowledge in developing a real system in a course project (such as a networked multimedia system or a groupware system with built-in mechanisms for supporting high availability). Topics include: models of distributed systems, distributed transactions, distributed filesystems, infrastructures for building distributed systems, distributed algorithms, cryptography and distributed security, overview of distributed multimedia applications, systems and networking support for distributed multimedia systems, distributed real-time systems. Prerequisites: (15-410 or 15-412 or 14-342 or 18-342 or 18-348 or 18-349) and (18-345 or 18-756 or 14-845).

18-756: Packet Switching and Computer Networks
This class is designed to provide graduate students an understanding of the fundamental concepts in computer networks of the present and the future. In the past, the scarce and expensive resource in communication networks has been the bandwidth of transmission facilities. Accordingly, the techniques used for networking and switching have been chosen to optimize the efficient use of this resource. These techniques have differed according to the type of information carried: circuit switching for voice and packet switching for data. It is expected that elements of circuit and packet switching will be used in the integrated networks. This course focuses on packet switching for computer networks and protocol design. Topics in the course include: computer networks over-view; OSI layers, queueing theory; data link protocol; flow control; congestion control; routing; local area networks; transport layer. The current networks and applications will be introduced through the student seminars in the last weeks of the course.
Prerequisite: 18-345.

14-774: Managerial Economics
This class presents the basic concepts of microeconomics theory with an emphasis on business applications. The approach of microeconomics is to solve an economic problem by modeling it as an optimization problem; the solution to the optimization problems then interpreted in terms of the original economic problem. This approach will be used to answer such problems as input selection, pricing and project selection. The format of the class is to present theory common to a general class of applied problems and then to apply the theory by solving actual problems. The goal of the class is for the students to be capable of applying the basic concepts to problems faced both future classes (e.g. finance, macroeconomics) and future careers.

14-775: Business Management
This class includes management functions such as accounting (reading and understanding financial statements, basic cost analysis and budgeting), finance (project evaluation and capital budgeting), human relations (motivation and organization of work), marketing (distribution and consumer behavior), and operations (production planning and control). The importance of information systems is emphasized across all management functions.

14-777: Information Systems Modeling
This class focuses on the early processes of information systems design. Students gain a deep understanding of the complexity of establishing information requirements in complex applications and learn how to translate these requirements into a global design architecture. Students compare and contrast different methodologies for requirement analysis. Modeling a database architecture as a major step in the design process is emphasized. Throughout the course students conduct several assignments using Object-Oriented design methodologies. At the conclusion of the course students explore several approaches for completing design specifications that satisfy existing information requirements.