Even if you cannot see them – embedded systems are everywhere. Very often, the only time that we take notice of them is when they no longer function properly. All of a sudden, the expensive new car refuses to go any further. Doors in the shopping mall no longer open or close at closing time. The barrier in the parking garage remains closed. The smart phone cannot login at the network.

Not only can certain bugs take away comfortable functions, incorrectly designed systems can be extremely dangerous and become very expensive. For example, there were certain incidents when rockets that had expensive satellites on board had to be blown up because they lost their intended trajectories and became a threat. One of the most expensive mistakes throughout the history of
embedded systems was the explosion of an “Ariane” rocket in 1996. The damage, which reached 370 million dollars, was caused by an overflow of a register. This was the outcome of the fact that Ariane 5 accelerated more quickly than the predecessor Ariane 4.

Embedded Systems became so complex during the course of the last decades that methods of computer-assisted design have to be applied. This module deals with the building of models and the analysis of embedded systems, focusing on the design of a uniform model for event-driven real-time systems.