System Integration

Dedicated to the dissemination of System Integration information

Introduction to my Studying

The subject of my dissertation is: -

 

An investigation into major defence system partitioning to help ensure system integration uses the least man hours.

 

I am studying with the UK based Open University (O.U.) which is an organisation that, amongst other things, provides home study degree and post graduate degree courses.  It follows a distance learning format with no (or rarely) any educational entry requirements.

 

The course identification is M801 an it is the final year of my MSc - Computing for Commerce and Industry.  Prior to this year I have studied subjects like Systems Engineering, Architectures of Computing Systems and various software related subjects.

 

The basic requirement is to produce: -

 

1. A 10,000 to 15,000 word dissertation on the subject by 11.3.2008.

2. Produce a web poster for the dissertation by 25.3.2008.

 

The official start date for the dissertation is 3.2.2007, i.e. I have slightly over a year to complete the dissertation.

 

Along the way I need to complete, and pass (40%), five Tutor Marked Assignments (TMAs), they are a form of progress test, I fail the course if I fail to produce any of the five TMAs. 

 

The final mark for the dissertation is made up of 4 components, the percentages are the weighting each component carries in the final mark: -

 

1. TMA 02 - 10%.

2. TMA 03 - 10%.

3. The dissertation - 70%.

4. Web poster - 10%.

 

Although I need to complete, and pass, five TMAs it is only TMAs two and three that count towards the final assessment.

 

Although the official start date is 3.2.2007 I have started to do some background reading and planning.  I am fortunate in that the company I work for, SELEX-SAS, has access to large amounts of scientific and technical papers though the O.U. also provides access to a similar amount of information.

 

The first question that should be answered is, ‘What is a dissertation?’.  Set book 2 gives the O.U. answer, or more particularly the M801 answer, I have given a summary of the answer on the page titled ‘What is a dissertation’.