Lecture Notes

(Nov. 2002)  (library system software project)

There is a university library which occupies three buildings in the campus. The library has a stock of books and academic journals. Students and academicians borrow journals or books with some rules set by the library. The university administration wants to automate the library operations.

 The library software system will consist of :

a) One or more server computers which will keep the database of books and journals, an indexing and querying mechanism for book searching, identification information for the students and academicians, and book borrowing information.

b) A number of lending stations which will be equipped by computer terminals linked to the server, a printer and a barcode reader. Students or academicians can borrow books by using their library cards which contain barcode information.

c) A number of search stations (computers) located at convenient points in the three buildings. These search stations will be used by students or academicians to search for book or journal information.  

You are asked to :

a) Sketch a figure which shows the major components of the system.

b) Propose the main modules of this library software system, explaining which software functions will be carried out by each module. Draw a flowchart of major steps for each main module.

c) Give a short verbal description of the system requirements, including hardware.

(April 2002) Consider the following traffic control system software project :

There are four traffic lights at a junction point. Sensors collect information on the traffic flow in each direction, and send this information to a control room.  In the control room, there is a computer which processes the flow information of the last time interval, and determines the green and red light durations of each traffic lamp for a new time interval. The time interval is 30 minutes during the day (06:00 in the morning to 20:00 in the evening) and 2 hours during the night (20:00 in the evening to 06:00 in the morning). 

a) Find the main modules (software functions) of this system.

b) Find out the time-critical tasks in this system, and determine the related constraints on the system.

Give a short verbal description (summary) of the system requirements, and a flowchart of the major operations to be performed.

(Nov. 2003) Consider the following airplane ticketing system:

There is an airline company Turk-air, which runs flights between Istanbul, Ankara, Kayseri, and Erzurum. There are two round-trip flights everyday. One is at 9:00 from Istanbul via Ankara to Erzurum, and the other one is at 10:00 from Istanbul via Ankara to Kayseri. So, flights leave from Istanbul, land at Ankara, and then go to Kayseri or Erzurum. On the way back to Istanbul, flights return via Ankara, using the same paths. The flight from Erzurum leaves at 13:00, and the flight from Kayseri leaves at 14:00. 

All the planes are Boeing 737’s which have 132 seats. Tickets are going to be sold at tourism agencies and at the airport counters of Turk-air. There will be a central ticketing server at the company headquarters in Istanbul. All ticketing requests will be online, and will be served by the central server. 

Round-trip tickets will have 20% discount. Students and elderly (over 65 years of age) get 20% discount as well. Credit card payments will be accepted.

You are given the task of designing an automatic ticketing system for this company. 

a) Give a short verbal description (summary) of the system requirements, and a flowchart of the major operations to be performed. 

b) Find the main modules (software functions), inputs, outputs, of this system.

c) Suggest a database format and discuss the required data structures briefly, using diagrams.

Duration: 90 minutes.     Open notes, open book.        November 24, 2006

Q1. (60 points) Consider an in-yacht information system (YIS) which provides yacht captains with information on the location of their yacht, weather conditions in the area, information on sea-ports and marinas, as well as other important information required for navigation in autopilot mode.

All yachts have very high frequency (VHF) radios which provide communication with other yachts, weather stations, port authority offices and coast guard stations, if the distance of the yacht is close enough. All yachts also have short wave radios from which captains can follow weather information and storm warnings for sea traffic on special stations. All yachts are equipped with GPS devices to find its position, and have detailed sea maps loaded to PCs. 

The YIS system is supposed to provide necessary information, and if there is a case of emergency, it is supposed to issue a warning, in special cases, possibly an alarm.

a) Give a short verbal description (summary) of the system requirements, and draw a system architecture diagram for YIS.

b) Find and list the main modules (software functions), inputs, outputs, of this system.

c) Give a flowchart of the major operations to be performed. 

d) Suggest a database format and discuss the required data structures briefly, using diagrams.

e) Discuss a user interface suitable for YIS

Q2. (40 points) 

Estimate size, human effort and cost required for your term project (Airline Reservation System Software) using any Estimation method you prefer. Show all your computations and explain all your work clearly. In cost computations, assume each team member will be paid 1500 YTL’s a month.

Duration: 90 minutes.     Open notes, open book.        December 3, 2008

Q1. (70 points) You are asked to design Red-light Violation Detection System (RVDS) for three different traffic junctions in Gazimagosa. There are four traffic lights at each junction point, one for each direction. For each traffic light, a camera is to be installed to take pictures of cars violating red lights. The pictures taken are to be sent to a central server located at Gazimagosa Police Headquarters.  The pictures are going to be processed and license plates of violating cars are going to be determined automatically by some optical character recognition (OCR) software. The violation data will be stored in a database which can then be used by the police for issuing fines to drivers.

a) Explain your approach for design, state your assumptions, and draw a system architecture diagram for your RVDS design.

b) List the main modules (software functions), module interfaces, inputs, and outputs of this system.

c) Suggest a basic database format and discuss the required data structures briefly, using diagrams and tables.

Q2. (30 points) 

Estimate the size, human effort and cost required for your term project (Distributed ATM System Software) using the Process-based Estimation method. Show all your computations and explain all your work clearly. In cost computations, assume each team member will be paid 2000 YTL’s a month.