Syllabus for

Advanced Operating Systems

COSC 623

(TTh 4:00-5:15, PH514)

Instructor: Matt Evett
Dept. Computer Science; room 512E Pray-Harrold
Tel: 734-487-1227; e-mail: evett@emich.edu;
http://emunix.emich.edu/~evett/OSgrad
http://canvas.emich.edu.

Office Hours:TTh 12:00-3:00; and by appointment.
(These times are subject to change. Please see my web site, http://emunix.emich.edu/~evett for up-to-date hours.) You may drop by at times other than office hours, but in that case I cannot guarantee that I'll be able to see you.

Prerequisite: COSC 423 (Operating Systems) and COSC 314 (Discrete Math).

Textbook: Silberschatz, Galvin & Gagne, Operating System Concepts, 9th ed., Wiley, 2013.

There will be additional readings.

Course Summary: Students successfully completing the course will have learned the major components, requirements and capabilities of operating systems, and be proficient in the use of multi-threaded systems and virtual machines.

  • The course is project oriented, with programming assignments spread throughout the semester.
  • Students will be responsible for presenting one or more current, academic papers in the field of Operating System research.

    • Course Calendar:

    Due dates for projects are are specified in the course shell. The dates below are approximations. Exam dates are in bold. Be aware that due dates sometimes slip.  You are responsible for monitoring the course Canvas.emich.edu for the latest deadlines.  In addition, programming assignments (particularly the later ones) may be altered to accomodate the interests of the class as the semester progresses.
     
    Date Text Projects due
    9/7 Introduction  
    9/12, 14  Ch 14, Protection  
    9/19, 21  Ch 15, Security
    9/26, 28 Ch 15  
    10/3, 5 Ch 17, Distributed Systems  
    10/10, 12 Ch 17 (Multicore)  
    10/17, 19 Ch 16, Virtual Machines Proj #1, Dining Philosophers
    10/24, 26  Unix
    10/31, 11/2 Ch 16 Midterm Exam
    11/7, 9 Ch 18, Linux Case Study
    11/14, 16 Mobile OS  Proj #2, RMI
    11/21, 23 Real-time Systems  
    Thanksgiving Break    
    12/5, 7 Fault-Resistant Systems Project #3
    12/12 Influential Operating Systems
    12/19, 3:30   Final Exam

     

    Grading Policy:

    The final course grade will be a weighted average of the grades received in each of the following categories, as specified: Small projects, homeworks and presentations 15%, Programs 45%, Midterm exam 20%, Final exam 20%..

    Tardiness Policy: Programming and other homework assignments will be due at the beginning of class. After that, assignments will be accepted through the start of the next scheduled class, but will suffer a full grade penalty. E.g., if a late programming assignment is worthy of an 'A', I will mark it a 'B'. Assignments more than one class late will not be accepted, and will receive a grade of 'F'.

    Attendance Policy: We're all grown-ups, when and whether you attend class is up to you. However, missed assignments, and exams shall only be excused by a doctor's written note, verifying that the student was medically indisposed to attend class that day.

    Grading of Programs: Grading of programming assignments will reflect three factors, weighted as shown.

    1. (90%) Correctness -- does the program run correctly.
    2. (5%) Style -- does the code adhere to class documentation standards? Is the code indented properly? Are the variable names mneumonic? How well has the student followed the basic formatting characteristics for the language?
    3. (5%) Design -- is the program adequately decomposed (i.e., are the functions and procedures small enough to be comprehensible)? Are the class and structure definitions well chosen? How well has the student taken advantage of the language's capabilities?

    Announcements and the Web Page:

    Students should view the course web page regularly for announcements regarding programming assignments, readings, etc. I update course web pages frequently!

    Academic Irregularities:

    Students are required to attend to the policy on academic irregularity outlined in the EMU student handbook. In addition, collaboration among students in solving programming and homework assignments is forbidden, unless otherwise specified by the instructor. If I receive programs or homework assignments that are substantially equivalent, or which are not the original work of the student submitting the material, I will not hesitate to punish all involved parties to the fullest extent, up to and including assignment of a failing grade for the course, and referral to the Office of Judicial Student Services for possible punitive action at the University level, which may include expulsion from the University. In addition, the University and the computer science department maintain policies regarding proper behavior on its computer systems. Failure to adhere to these policies can result in loss of computer privileges, and possible legal action.