Exams

NOTE/NEWS: From HT2011 the ordinary exam is after HT1 (i.e., before the project during HT2), and hence there is no exam in December 2011.

The most recent exam with solutions provided is from December 2010. It very well represents a typical exam.

The next upcoming occasions

 

According to the LTH Schema, exams are scheduled according to this link for study year 2011-12. The "evak" in the former scheme is a placeholder for replacement localities, which in this case is Univ:aula (the aula of the main university building).

You do not have to sign up; just show up (even when "registration required" is stated in the central database).

Since December 2008 all exams are given in English ONLY (answers in Swedish is of course also fine).

Hints for solving the construction problems

The first part of each exam in on the theory, whereas the second part is the construction part consisting of two construction problems. The first of these has to be sufficiently well solved for the second to count for your points/grade. (The reason is that the first construction problem is more concrete and aims to test actual coding skills and knowledge about synchronization etc., and that is required to pass, while the second is more conceptual and design oriented, which should count only for higher grades; to make high-level decisions you should know what it implies on lower levels [in any system or organization].)  More than 80% of those failing the exam do so because of the first construction problem. Therefore, the following hints are intended to help you avoid some typical mistakes:

1. Browse through the description and get a general impression what the problem is about.
2. Read carefully the description, in particular paragraphs containing specifications, and mark (yes, underline, mark, and make notes in the exam document, which is for you to use and keep) the specifics that your implementation should fulfill.
3. What accomplishments does your customer care about? In this course it is neither code that is so correct that it would compile direct (errors that the compiler would report is mainly ignored), nor is it formally correct numerical computations that might be part of some methods. It is the design and implementation of multi-threaded systems, including proper object-oriented concurrency (active and passive objects and the signaling and synchronization between them) and proper locking of shared resources (mutual exclusion) that counts when your solution is reviewed.
4. Write short answers to the theory questions, and make sure you have sufficient time (3.5 hours?) for the construction part (and perhaps start with that).
5. For things you do not think is clear from the problem or that does not make sense, make reasonable assumptions that you also provide with your solution, as typically within engineering. Of course, if you oversimplify the problem there will be a reduction of your points, but it is still better than an implementation that does not correspond to the problem.
6. Implement the main and most important parts first. Some simple initialization code and the like can be skipped. Instead, pay careful attention to how you accomplish synchronization and other core parts of the course.
7. Explain your design with figures and text whenever applicable. Write readable text/code.
8. Maintain a positive attitude during your struggles.....

Concurrency and real-time problems are typically part of  rather complex scenarios, and in industry you ability to grasp the problems can be as important as your ability to solve them, and there is always a lack of time. Still, a course needs to have a limited scope and the exam should be possible to understand, so ask if needed.

Date	Exam	Solution	Attachments	Comment
2012-01-09
2011-10-22				Hint: Study this solution before retaking the exam.
2010-12-18				Hint: Study this solution before retaking the exam.
2009-12-16				English version.
2008-12-16
2008-12-16				English version.
2007-12-12
2007-12-12				English version.
2007-04-11
2007-04-11				English version.
2006-12-11
2006-12-11				English version. Download a runnable solution to assignment 8, the heart rate monitor (simple hardware emulator included).
2006-08-26
2006-08-26				English version.
2006-06-01
2006-06-01				English version.
2006-04-20
2006-04-20				English version.
2005-12-12				English version.  See comments on the HT page.
2005-12-12				See comments on the HT page.
2005-08-27				Special case; reused problems, which then were unknown for the students.
2005-08-27				English version.
2005-06-01				Reuse of final design problem; was new for the students repeating .
2005-06-01				English version.
2005-03-30
2005-03-30				English version.
2004-12-13				English version.
2004-12-13				See English solutions
2004-06-02				No eSolutions but refer to the implementations for problem 9.
2004-06-02				English version.
2004-04-14				Not quite representative, never written electronically, not very hard.
2004-04-14				English version.
2003-12-15:				English version.
2003-12-15:				See English solutions
2003-08-29:				Solutions were never written electronically, not very hard.
2003-04-23:
2002-12-19:				English version Solutions for  last two problems, see Swedish.
2002-12-19:				Draft solutions: mixed swe/eng, one explaination missing.
2002-08-22:				Implementation for problem 9. No solutions made for the rest/simple.
2001-12-20:				English version.
2001-12-20:				Same attachment as 2000-08-17.
2001-08-23:
2001-03-07:
2000-12-15:				English version.
2000-12-15:
2000-08-17:			RTEventBuffer.java	Paper-saving version of   attachement (2 A4-pages):
2000-03-08:				Same attachement as 1999-08-19.
1999-12-17:
1999-08-19:			RTEvent, RTEventBuffer	Attachments only as PDF.
1999-03-10:
1998-12-17:

• Print version