Advanced Learning and Research Institute
Encyclopedia
Advanced Learning and Research Institute (ALaRI) is a privately sponsored graduate school on the 4th floor of the main building of the University of Lugano (see USI
), in Switzerland
.
The single program course available is Embedded System
Design
, diverging into the R&D or Business
branch. Two years are required for a Master's degree
(MSc
), one year for a Master's of Advanced Studies
(MAS). The primary language of instruction is English. The degree is jointly awarded by USI
in collaboration with ETH Zurich
and Politecnico Di Milano, Italy.
, Accounting, Organization, Marketing
, Purchasing
, and a final business plan of a possible business implementing a given technology.
; but the majority of members are ALaRI due to the Computer Engineering
program offered therein. An IEEE student branch is also established together with USI
.
Università della Svizzera italiana
Università della Svizzera italiana is a public university located in Lugano, Switzerland, founded in 1996...
), in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
.
The single program course available is Embedded System
Embedded system
An embedded system is a computer system designed for specific control functions within a larger system. often with real-time computing constraints. It is embedded as part of a complete device often including hardware and mechanical parts. By contrast, a general-purpose computer, such as a personal...
Design
Design
Design as a noun informally refers to a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system while “to design” refers to making this plan...
, diverging into the R&D or Business
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
branch. Two years are required for a Master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
(MSc
Master's degree in Europe
This page refers to types of Master's degrees in Europe. Please see Master's degree for more information.In order to facilitate the movement of students between European countries, a standardized schedule of higher education diplomas, also known as the Bologna process, was proposed: an...
), one year for a Master's of Advanced Studies
Master's degree in Europe
This page refers to types of Master's degrees in Europe. Please see Master's degree for more information.In order to facilitate the movement of students between European countries, a standardized schedule of higher education diplomas, also known as the Bologna process, was proposed: an...
(MAS). The primary language of instruction is English. The degree is jointly awarded by USI
Università della Svizzera italiana
Università della Svizzera italiana is a public university located in Lugano, Switzerland, founded in 1996...
in collaboration with ETH Zurich
ETH Zurich
The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich or ETH Zürich is an engineering, science, technology, mathematics and management university in the City of Zurich, Switzerland....
and Politecnico Di Milano, Italy.
Coursework
Courses are the same for MSc (R&D or Business) and MAS programs. MAS students must complete 70 ECTS (including thesis) within one year; MSc students must complete the 120 ECTS in two years. Courses are 25h to 50h in length, and vary in difficulty level (L, M, H) by time and absorption.MSc Year 1
- Introductory Courses, in VHDL, C++, UML. (L)
- Hardware ArchitectureHardware architectureIn engineering, hardware architecture refers to the identification of a system's physical components and their interrelationships. This description, often called a hardware design model, allows hardware designers to understand how their components fit into a system architecture and provides...
, basic digital logic, caches, pipelining. Evaluated on challenging exam, project in design space exploration. (L) - Transform Theory : Fourier, Laplace, wavelets; MATLAB, exam. (H)
- Specification LanguagesSpecification languageA specification language is a formal language used in computer science.Unlike most programming languages, which are directly executable formal languages used to implement a system, specification languages are used during systems analysis, requirements analysis and systems design.Specification...
: Focuses on description of components in a system; evaluated on successful completion of week-long SystemCSystemCSystemC is a set of C++ classes and macros which provide an event-driven simulation kernel in C++ . These facilities enable a designer to simulate concurrent processes, each described using plain C++ syntax...
project. (M) - Software CompilerCompilerA compiler is a computer program that transforms source code written in a programming language into another computer language...
s: General compiler theory and artificial language description; project with SUIF. (H) - StatisticsStatisticsStatistics is the study of the collection, organization, analysis, and interpretation of data. It deals with all aspects of this, including the planning of data collection in terms of the design of surveys and experiments....
: General statistics course; exam. - CryptographyCryptographyCryptography is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of third parties...
implementation of DES/3DESData Encryption StandardThe Data Encryption Standard is a block cipher that uses shared secret encryption. It was selected by the National Bureau of Standards as an official Federal Information Processing Standard for the United States in 1976 and which has subsequently enjoyed widespread use internationally. It is...
, AESAdvanced Encryption StandardAdvanced Encryption Standard is a specification for the encryption of electronic data. It has been adopted by the U.S. government and is now used worldwide. It supersedes DES...
, DH, and other cryptographic methods on paper as theory and trace practice; exam. (H) - Design Laboratory 1 . (M)
- Digital ControlControl theoryControl theory is an interdisciplinary branch of engineering and mathematics that deals with the behavior of dynamical systems. The desired output of a system is called the reference...
: overcoming problems posed by using digital processorsDigital signal processorA digital signal processor is a specialized microprocessor with an architecture optimized for the fast operational needs of digital signal processing.-Typical characteristics:...
for control theory; exam. (H) - DSPDigital signal processingDigital signal processing is concerned with the representation of discrete time signals by a sequence of numbers or symbols and the processing of these signals. Digital signal processing and analog signal processing are subfields of signal processing...
in multimedia; MATLAB project. (M) - Embedded Databases: database considerations for embedded devices. (L)
- Future trends in Microprocessor ArchitectureHardware architectureIn engineering, hardware architecture refers to the identification of a system's physical components and their interrelationships. This description, often called a hardware design model, allows hardware designers to understand how their components fit into a system architecture and provides...
. (L) - Networking for embedded TCP/IP cores. (L)
- Reprogrammable SystemsReconfigurable computingReconfigurable computing is a computer architecture combining some of the flexibility of software with the high performance of hardware by processing with very flexible high speed computing fabrics like field-programmable gate arrays...
: focus on FPGAs and efficient VHDL design; weeklong course and VHDL project. (H) - RTOS and Scheduling: scheduling methods for RTOS; exam. (H)
- Validation and VerificationVerification and ValidationIn software project management, software testing, and software engineering, verification and validation is the process of checking that a software system meets specifications and that it fulfills its intended purpose...
methods used in low-level-software and hardware-synthesis.
MSc Year 2
- Dependable Systems. Low-difficulty course; emphasis on fault tolerance in memories and networks. (L)
- Low Power Design: Power analysis of architecture-level power reduction methods, evaluation of low-power methods with SynopsysSynopsysSynopsys, Inc. is one of the largest companies in the Electronic Design Automation industry. Synopsys' first and best-known product is Design Compiler, a logic-synthesis tool. Synopsys offers a wide range of other products used in the design of an application-specific integrated circuit...
PrimePower (non data-dependent tool). (M) - MicroelectronicsMicroelectronicsMicroelectronics is a subfield of electronics. As the name suggests, microelectronics relates to the study and manufacture of very small electronic components. Usually, but not always, this means micrometre-scale or smaller,. These devices are made from semiconductors...
: as described from the physics-level up to the gate-level; fast-paced challenging exam. (M) - Algorithms for Wireless Com.TelecommunicationTelecommunication is the transmission of information over significant distances to communicate. In earlier times, telecommunications involved the use of visual signals, such as beacons, smoke signals, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs, or audio messages via coded...
. Highest difficulty course, using MATLAB to design high-efficiency wireless communication systems. (H) - Hw/Sw Codesign: partitioning, design space exploration, interface synthesis, and estimation.
- Design Laboratory 2.
- Low Power Software: Evaluation of (architecture-level and) OS-level effects on power usage.
- Network on chipNetwork On ChipNetwork-on-Chip or Network-on-a-Chip is an approach to designing the communication subsystem between IP cores in a System-on-a-Chip . NoCs can span synchronous and asynchronous clock domains or use unclocked asynchronous logic...
I/II : SoC IP core design; challenging exam on design and theory. - Performance EvaluationQueueing theoryQueueing theory is the mathematical study of waiting lines, or queues. The theory enables mathematical analysis of several related processes, including arriving at the queue, waiting in the queue , and being served at the front of the queue...
of queues; exam, project. (H) - Retargettable Compilers: efficient code generation for embedded systems (optimization, retargetability, low-power); lab, exam. (M)
- VLIW architectures, ILP architectures, compilers, software. (M)
Business Track
MSc students may opt to take on additional course-load: FinanceFinance
"Finance" is often defined simply as the management of money or “funds” management Modern finance, however, is a family of business activity that includes the origination, marketing, and management of cash and money surrogates through a variety of capital accounts, instruments, and markets created...
, Accounting, Organization, Marketing
Marketing
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...
, Purchasing
Purchasing
Purchasing refers to a business or organization attempting for acquiring goods or services to accomplish the goals of the enterprise. Though there are several organizations that attempt to set standards in the purchasing process, processes can vary greatly between organizations...
, and a final business plan of a possible business implementing a given technology.
Master Thesis
Thesis topics fall into five categories:- Security and communications
- HW/SW for Advanced Applications
- System-Level Design
- Low-Power Design
- Pervasive Computing
Student life
The ALaRI has two student associations: EESTEC, and IEEE-RSAC8-SB. The EESTEC branch established in 2005 as observer (2007: LC) and serves the USIUniversità della Svizzera italiana
Università della Svizzera italiana is a public university located in Lugano, Switzerland, founded in 1996...
; but the majority of members are ALaRI due to the Computer Engineering
Computer engineering
Computer engineering, also called computer systems engineering, is a discipline that integrates several fields of electrical engineering and computer science required to develop computer systems. Computer engineers usually have training in electronic engineering, software design, and...
program offered therein. An IEEE student branch is also established together with USI
USI
USI may stand for:*User System Interaction, a postgraduate engineering design program in the Netherlands*U Select It, a large vending company in the United States*Union of Independent Trade Unions...
.