Purpose: map the actual past-year final paper (
Final RTSE 20242025.pdf, SECJ4423 / SCSE3143) onto the chapters/sub-topics, and flag what kind of mastery each area needs (memorise a definition vs. apply/derive vs. calculate).⚠️ This is NOT a prediction. Past papers only sample the syllabus. Treat this as a guide to the style and depth expected — then prepare every sub-topic in
Detailed_Notes_Ch5-9.md. The safest assumption is that any sub-topic can appear.
| Part | Content | Marks |
|---|---|---|
| Part A | 4 structured questions (case-study driven), 15 marks each | 60 |
| Part B | 2 problem-solving questions, 20 marks each | 40 |
| Total | 3 hours | 100 |
Key takeaways about the style:
| Q | Case study | Chapter(s) | Sub-topics tested | Mastery needed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | Smart Home | Ch 5 | Concurrent program meaning + significance; why concurrency is essential; race condition / violating mutual exclusion; consequences; deadlock + identifying shared resources; sketch a deadlock scenario | Define + apply. Know definitions cold, then instantiate them in the described system. |
| A2 | Bottling Plant | Ch 6 | Critical region (identify one); 2 inter-task communication mechanisms + how to apply them; semaphores for exclusive access & station states; concurrency control for a high-priority task (points to priority inheritance) | Define + apply + justify. Must explain how a mechanism solves the stated problem. |
| A3 | C-- snippet | Ch 6 / 7 | Concurrency for sequential languages (C); semaphore vs monitor keywords (wait/signal ↔ P/V ↔ monitor wait/signal); counting possible outputs (coarse interleave); execution tracing on multi-core; modify code to add a semaphore | Derive + write code. Trace interleavings, count outcomes, and write correct p()/v() placement. |
| A4 | Vacuum Cleaner | Ch 8 | OS vs RTOS; RTOS 4-element structure (executive, kernel, APIs, real-world interfaces) + map components to each; how the elements interact; µC/OS-II Port function; µC/OS-II architecture features | Define + apply. Know the 4 elements & µC/OS-II features, then map to the given diagram. |
| Q | Case study | Chapter | Sub-topics tested | Mastery needed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| B1 | Smart Factory | Ch 9 | Non-preemptive fixed-priority characteristic; which task blocks others (semaphores); preemptive fixed-priority timeline (0–15) with executing/preempted/blocked; priority inversion; priority inheritance; then EDF (which runs first, who misses deadline, EDF vs fixed-priority evaluation) | Draw + reason. Build a Gantt-style timeline, spot priority inversion, explain the inheritance fix, reason about EDF ordering. |
| B2 | Drone (ADNOA) | Ch 9 | Processor utilization analysis + RMA (predict schedulability of 5 tasks); suggest a new period to make it schedulable; effect on hard vs soft task responsiveness; response time analysis for one task; compare RTA vs utilization | Calculate. Apply ST2 (utilization) and ST4 (response time) numerically and interpret the results. |
These are asked as "state/explain the meaning of…":
cobegin program and trace interleavings (Ch 7) — coarse (single-core) vs fine (multi-core)ST1–ST4 formulas are printed in the paper — practise using them, not reciting them.
U = Σ Cᵢ/Tᵢ vs bound n(2^(1/n) − 1) → schedulable? (ST1 EDF / ST2 RM)Rᵢˣ⁺¹ = Cᵢ + Σ_{hp(i)} ⌈Rᵢˣ/Tⱼ⌉ Cⱼ until convergence, compare to D (ST4).| Chapter | Rough share of the past paper |
|---|---|
| Ch 5 — Concurrency | ~15% (A1) |
| Ch 6 — Mechanisms | ~20% (A2 + part of A3) |
| Ch 7 — BACI/interleaving | ~10% (part of A3) |
| Ch 8 — RTOS | ~15% (A4) |
| Ch 9 — Scheduling & SA | ~40% (all of Part B) |
➡️ Ch 9 (scheduling + schedulability calculations) carried the most marks in the past paper, and it's the most method-driven — the highest return on drilling. But do not skip Ch 5–8: Part A is 60% of the paper and every chapter appeared.
p()/v() correctly and count interleavings?Prepare breadth (every sub-topic) + depth on Ch 9 methods. Use MCQ_Bank.html to self-test recall of the 🟦/🟨 items.