A Project Based Master’s Programme for SoF/SoC based Sensor Systems Mattias O’Nils * , Bengt Oelmann * , Kent Bertilsson * , Hans-Erik Nilsson * , Göran Thungström * * Electronics Design Division, Dept. of Information Tech. and Media, Mid-Sweden University, Sweden, e-mail: [first_name.last_name]@miun.se, tel. +46 60 148600, fax. +46 60 148456. Abstract - We foresee an increase in communicating sensor systems, that we call Sensible Things that Communicate (STC). These systems range from simple powerless systems for monitoring temperature to complex imaging systems for control or classification. In this paper we present the curriculum and pedagogical methods used in a Master’s programme developed to meet the requirements that STC systems put on a designer. The goal for the programme has been to encourage the students to acquire knowledge from completing practical design cases, of industrial or academic interest. This has shown to be an effective method to learn and motivate the students. 1. INTRODUCTION The evolution of the 3G mobile telephone systems, from the first point-to-point communication used in the telephone prototype patented by Graham Bell in 1875, has been driven by the underlying dream of man to increase the range of his/her senses. The telephone extends the range of our voice and hearing. Wireless solutions provide additional flexibilities, which make the extension of our senses possible to carry along in our daily activities. The same technology can be utilized in all kinds of service applications. We define the technology that allows this as technology for Sensible Things that Communicate (STC). The STC concept is the underlying technology for infrastructures such as the intelligent home, on-line fabrication, and intelligent consumer products. Intelligent products need to sense their environment, make decisions and communicate. They should allow easy and low-cost integration of control and monitoring systems in industrial environments as well as provide functional products, which help to organize our everyday life. Paul Saffo, Director for the Institute of the Future in Menlo Park, California, USA, predicts that “The impact of sensors will be as surprising in the decade ahead as microprocessors were in the 1980s and lasers in the 1990s.” [8]. Today the communication infrastructure has reached a sophistication level that wide use of STC solutions is possible. Integration of RFID technology and sensor technology provides the possibility at extremely low cost, embed sensors into everyday products including consumables. The silicon technology has reached a performance level that allows full integration of high frequency communication protocols compatible with today’s mobile phone technology (including Bluetooth technology) and standards. Large players in logistics are driving the market targeting electronic labels as the standard technique for item identification. This provides the market size to reach completely new cost levels per embedded sensor node. The starting point for the development of a new Master’s programme was to meet this new product segment with communicating sensor systems. Doing this, we had set up the following requirements and goals: - The students should be able to analyse the requirements for a STC system from a product perspective and make trade-offs between the sensor, hardware and software. This is similar to the requirements presented in De Man’s [6] analysis of the assumed educational requirements for the new designers for future multiprocessor system on chip designs. This analysis results in several challenges that future engineers will face. Such as; product reliability, making trade-offs, writing software for low power, hardware/software codesign and the requirement for none technical skills. He summarizes this analysis by stating that students need to be exposed to real design projects in a multidisciplinary approach. Bernstein et al. [5] present a course sequence at Master’s level that implements this. These courses range from producing to designing electronic systems. The Master’s programme described in this paper has similar structure with courses that range from detector fabrication and simulation to embedded system design. - Students should have close interaction with research. Here Leffely and Burleson [4] present an interesting approach for a course in VLSI SoC design, which embrace some of the ideas presented in [6]. They present a project based course where the students work in groups composed of both undergraduate and graduate students. Implementing a part of a larger SoC system, which later is integrated into a full system. This forces the students to think about global and integration issues. Many of these ideas are embraced in the presented Master’s programme.