You are reading the 2024/25 Academic Calendar. The 2023/24 version remains in effect until August 31, 2024 and is available here.

Computer Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science

CPEN: Computer Engineering


  1. CPEN 211 (5) Computing Systems I

    Boolean algebra; combinational and sequential circuits; organization and operation of microcomputers, memory addressing modes, representation of information, instruction sets, machine and assembly language programming, systems programs, I/O structures, I/O interfacing and I/O programming, introduction to digital system design using microcomputers. Credit will be granted for only one of CPEN 211, CPEN 312, EECE 256, EECE 259 or EECE 355. This course is not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading. [4-2-2*]

    Prerequisite: APSC 160.

  2. CPEN 212 (4) Computing Systems II

    Computer architecture and the hardware- software interface: pipelining; caches; virtual memory; memory management; linking; concurrency; introduction to compilers. [3-2-0]

    Prerequisite: CPEN 211 and one of CPEN 221, CPEN 223, CPSC 259.

  3. CPEN 221 (4-5) d Software Construction I

    Design, implementation, reasoning about software systems: abstraction and specification of software, testing, verification, abstract data types, object-oriented design, type hierarchies, concurrent software design. This course is not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading. [3-2-2*]

    Prerequisite: APSC 160.

  4. CPEN 223 (4) Software Design for Engineers I

    Introduction to robust software design: static typing, procedural specifications, unit testing, black-box & white-box tests, user- defined data types (representations, invariants, abstraction functions), data abstractions, communicating design (e.g., UML). This course is not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading. [3-2-0]

    Prerequisite: APSC 160.

  5. CPEN 281 (3) Technical Communication

    Written and oral communication in engineering. Technical description, report preparation, business correspondence, and oral presentation of technical material. Restricted to students in second year of Electrical and Computer Engineering programs. Credit will be granted for only one of ELEC 281, CPEN 281, BMEG 201 or APSC 201. This course is not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading. [3-0-0]

    Prerequisite: One of APSC 176, ENGL 110, ENGL 111, ENGL 112, ENGL 120, ENGL 121, WRDS 150.

  6. CPEN 291 (6) Computer Engineering Design Studio I

    Design projects involving hardware (electronic devices and circuits, microcomputers) and software. This course is not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading. [2-6-0]

    Prerequisite: CPEN 211.

    Corequisite: ELEC 201.

  7. CPEN 300 (1-12) Special Topics in Computer Engineering

    Lectures or projects on subjects of current interest. This course is not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading.

  8. CPEN 311 (4) Digital Systems Design

    Advanced combinational and sequential electronic system design. Hardware specification, modelling, and simulation using hardware description languages (HDLs) and CAD tools. Design with programmable logic including FPGA's. Applications include complex state machines, microcontrollers, arithmetic circuits, and interface units. This course is not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading. [3(3)-0]

    Prerequisite: One of CPEN 211, CPEN 312.

  9. CPEN 312 (3) Digital Systems and Microcomputers

    Data representation in digital computers; boolean algebra; the design and optimization and implementation of combinatorial and sequential circuits; modern digital circuit technologies; memory and programmable logic devices; organization and operation of microcomputers; data/address bus organization; input-output interfacing. Credit will be granted for only one of CPEN 312, CPEN 211. This course is not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading This course is not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading. [3-2*-0]

    Prerequisite: One of ELEC 201, ELEC 204, ELEC 203, MECH 221.

  10. CPEN 321 (4) Software Engineering

    Engineering practices for the development of non-trivial software-intensive systems including requirements specification, software architecture, implementation, verification, and maintenance. Iterative development. Recognized standards, guidelines, and models. Credit will only be granted for only one of CPSC 310, CPEN 321. This course is not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading. [3-2-0]

    Corequisite: CPEN 322.

  11. CPEN 322 (4) Software Construction II

    Contemporary concepts and techniques for developing interactive software applications: client-server architectures; session-oriented systems; security and scalability; models of application deployment. This course is not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading. [3-2-0]

    Prerequisite: All of CPEN 221, CPSC 221.

  12. CPEN 331 (4) Operating Systems

    Operating systems, their design and their implementation. Process concurrency, synchronization, communication and scheduling. Device drivers, memory management, virtual memory, file systems, networking and security. This course is not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading. [3(3)-0]

    Prerequisite: All of CPEN 212, CPEN 221.

  13. CPEN 333 (3-4) d Software Design for Engineers II

    Use of operating systems abstractions; real-time systems; principles of concurrent and multi-threaded programming; information structures; introduction to object oriented analysis; design, and modelling using UML; software testing. This course is not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading. [3-2-0]

    Prerequisite: One of CPSC 259, CPEN 223.

  14. CPEN 355 (4) Machine Learning with Engineering Applications

    Foundations and concepts of data science and machine learning with applications to engineering problems. This course is not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading. [3-0-2]

    Prerequisite: One of MATH 152, MATH 221 and one of MATH 318, MATH 302, STAT 302, STAT 321, ELEC 321 and one of CPEN 221, CPEN 223, CPSC 259.

  15. CPEN 391 (6) Computer Engineering Design Studio II

    Design and implementation of a hardware platform and software design and implementation at the operating system and application layers. Project management skills. Effective presentations. Going-forward, credit will be given for only one of CPEN291, CPEN391. This course is not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading. [2-6-0]

    Prerequisite: All of CPEN 212, CPSC 221, ELEC 201.

  16. CPEN 400 (1-8) d Topics in Computer Engineering

    Lectures or projects on subjects of current interest.

  17. CPEN 411 (4) Computer Architecture

    Modern processors, GPUs, and memory hierarchies; quantitative principles and instruction set design; pipelining, superscalar issue, out-of-order execution, branch prediction and speculation; memory hierarchies, caches, virtual addressing, prefetching, coherence, and consistency; multicores, VLIW, on-chip networks, and other advanced architectures. Credit will be granted for only one of CPSC 313, CPEN 411. This course is not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading. This course is not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading. [3-0-2]

    Prerequisite: One of CPEN 212, CPEN 311, CPEN 312.

  18. CPEN 412 (4) Microcomputer Systems Design

    Microprocessor and system buses; advanced I/O methods; priority interrupts; event/exception handling; serial I/O; computer networking; memory system design; interaction of hardware and software, microprocessor comparison, testability issues, safety critical systems. This course is not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading. [3-2-0]

    Prerequisite: CPEN 311 and one of CPEN 211, CPEN 312.

  19. CPEN 421 (4) Software Project Management

    Advanced project planning, cost estimation and scheduling. Project management tools. Factors influencing productivity and success. Productivity metrics. Analysis of options and risk. Tools. Case studies. This course is not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading. [3-0-2]

    Prerequisite: One of CPEN 321, CPSC 310.

  20. CPEN 422 (4) Software Testing and Analysis

    Different levels of testing including unit, integration, system, performance and regression levels. Requirements flowdown. Problem tracking. Coverage criteria. Static methods. Tools support. Specialized techniques. Assessment of correctness, reliability, safety. This course is not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading. [3-2-0]

    Prerequisite: One of CPEN 221, CPEN 321, CPSC 210, CPSC 310.

  21. CPEN 423 (4) Software Architecture

    Software architecture as a bridge from requirements to implementation. Architectural description and patterns. Iterative development. Use of commercial off-the-shelf products. This course is not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading. [3-2-0]

    Prerequisite: One of CPEN 221, CPEN 321, CPSC 310.

  22. CPEN 431 (4) Design of Distributed Software Applications

    Communications, processes, naming, synchronization, consistency and replication, fault tolerance, middleware, and security technologies for distributed applications. This course is not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading. [3-2-0]

    Prerequisite: One of CPEN 331, CPSC 313 and one of CPEN 221, CPSC 210.

  23. CPEN 432 (4) Real-time System Design

    Multi-tasking; interrupt-driven systems; task scheduling; schedulability analysis; inter-process communication and synchronization; resource management; performance measurement; hardware/software integration; hardware/software tradeoffs; system reliability. This course is not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading. [3-0-2]

    Prerequisite: One of CPEN 333, CPEN 331, CPSC 313.

  24. CPEN 441 (4) Human Computer Interfaces in Engineering Design

    Practical issues for interfaces for modern software. Task analysis, user modelling, usability engineering, representations, metaphors, prototyping tools. Applications: interactive multimedia systems, engineering, scientific visualization, engineering design. This course is not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading. [3-1-2*]

    Prerequisite: CPSC 221 and one of CPEN 221, CPSC 210, CPEN 333.

  25. CPEN 442 (4) Introduction to Cybersecurity

    Security risks, threats, and vulnerabilities from technical perspectives; cryptography; software and web security; access control, assurance, accountability; usable privacy and security; engineering of secure systems; cryptocurrencies. This course is not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading. [3-2-0]

    Prerequisite: One of CPEN 333, CPEN 331, CPSC 313.

  26. CPEN 455 (4) Deep Learning

    Fundamentals of deep learning, including architectures (e.g., MLPs, CNNs, RNNs, Transformers, and GNNs) and learning algorithms under different paradigms (supervised / unsupervised / reinforcement learning). Emphasis on design principles and motivating applications. This course is not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading. [3-0-2]

    Prerequisite: One of MATH 152, MATH 221 and one of MATH 318, MATH 302, STAT 302, STAT 321, ELEC 321 and one of CPEN 221, CPEN 223, CPSC 259.

  27. CPEN 481 (3) Economic Analysis of Engineering Projects

    Time-money relationships; economic analysis of alternatives including the effects of interest rates, inflation, depreciation, taxation and uncertainty; cost estimation and budgeting; financial analysis of engineering operations. This course is not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading. [3-0-0]

  28. CPEN 491 (5-10) d Computer Engineering Capstone Design Project

    Design, analysis, and implementation of solutions in response to a real-world computer engineering problem, provided by industry, research laboratories, or other suitable entities. Includes coverage of topics such as project management. This course is not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading. [2-6-0] or [2-6-0; 2-6-0]

    Prerequisite: All of CPEN 331, CPSC 320 and one of CPEN 311, CPEN 322; and one of CPEN 291, CPEN 391.

  29. CPEN 497 (1(3)) d Research Experience in Computer Engineering

    Directed research experience. Communication of research ideas. Pass/Fail. This course is not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading.

    Prerequisite: Third-year standing.

  30. CPEN 499 (3/6) c Undergraduate Thesis

    Project in electrical engineering or computer engineering involving design, experimental and/or computer simulation work as selected from topics supplied by faculty members. An individual project thesis is to be prepared according to specifications available from the departmental office. This course is not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading. [0-6-0] or [0-12-0]

  31. CPEN 502 (3) Architecture for Learning Systems

    Credit will only be given for one of CPEN 502 or EECE 592. This course is not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading.

  32. CPEN 511 (3) Advanced Computer Architecture

    Credit will only be given for one of CPEN 511 or EECE 527. This course is not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading.

  33. CPEN 512 (3) Parallel and Reconfigurable Computing

    Credit will only be given for one of CPEN 512 or EECE 528. This course is not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading.

  34. CPEN 513 (3) CAD Algorithms for Integrated Circuits

    Credit will only be given for one of CPEN 513 or EECE 583 This course is not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading.

  35. CPEN 514 (3) Quantum Information and Computation

    This course is not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading. [3-0-0]

  36. CPEN 521 (3) Topics in Software Engineering

    Credit will only be given for one of CPEN 521 or EECE 511. This course is not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading.

  37. CPEN 522 (3) Software Verification and Testing

    Credit will only be given for one of CPEN 522 or EECE 514. This course is not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading.

  38. CPEN 523 (3) Software Project Management

    Credit will only be given for one of CPEN 523 or EECE 543 or CPEN 421. This course is not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading.

  39. CPEN 524 (3) Principles of Mobile Application Development and Analysis

    This course is not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading.

  40. CPEN 533 (3) Error Resilient Computing Systems

    Credit will only be given for one of CPEN 533 or EECE 513. This course is not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading.

  41. CPEN 534 (3) Trade-offs in Designing Computer Systems

    This course is not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading. [3-0-0]

  42. CPEN 541 (3) Human Interface Technologies

    Credit will only be given for one of CPEN 541 or EECE 518. This course is not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading.

  43. CPEN 542 (3) Cybersecurity

    Credit will only be given for one of CPEN 542 or EECE 512. This course is not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading.

  44. CPEN 642 (3-9) d Cybersecurity Research Seminar

    This course is not eligible for Credit/D/Fail grading.

    Prerequisite: by permission of the instructor.


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