Course Syllabus (1690/2670)

Overview

Course Description

CS 1670/1690 is an entirely new operating systems course at Brown University, built from scratch for Fall 2026. Students will design and implement a real operating system kernel that boots and runs on Raspberry Pi hardware.

Topics include: processes and threads, virtual memory, scheduling, file systems, I/O, system calls, synchronization, and the hardware/software interface on a real ARM processor.

CS 1690 is the lab companion to CS 1670. Students enrolled in 1690 attend an additional weekly seminar for hands-on hardware work and deeper conceptual exploration.

CS 2670 is a graduate-level version of the course that combines CS 1670 and 1690. Students in CS 2670 complete the same work as students in CS 1670 and 1690, receiving one course’s worth of 2000-level credit.

Course Details

• Requirements
• Assignments
• Time Commitment
• Grading
• Collaboration Policy
• AI Policy
• Regret Clause
• Late Policy
• Accommodations
• Mental Health
• Incomplete Policy

Requirements

Enrollment in CS 1690 requires you to also enroll in CS 1670. Enrollment in CS 2670 requires you to be able to attend the Friday seminar, even though CAB doesn’t enforce this. Please make sure you don’t have a time conflict.

Assignments

You will need to complete all assignments in CS 1670, including programming projects, whiteboard discussions, and PLQs. In addition, you must complete the CS 1690-specific components of the programming projects.

Seminar sessions will require you to study readings and submit brief answers to homework questions by midnight on Thursday before the seminar. You must also attend the seminar sessions in person.

Expected Time Commitment

You should expect to spend an additional 6-8 hours per week on lab work for CS 1690 and 2670. This includes 1.5 hours of seminar attendance, 2 hours of seminar prep and readings, and 3-5 hours of extra assignment work. In total, this amounts to about 90 hours of extra work for the semester.

Grading

You will receive a single grade for the course:

• If you are enrolled in CS 1670 and 1690, your grade will be the same for both.
• If you are enrolled in CS 2670, you will receive a single grade that covers both the 1670 assignments and your 1690 lab work.

See the CS 1670 syllabus for details on how your grade is calculated. Your CS 1670 project and whiteboard discussion grades (25% of the total grade each) will include the extra components you completed for CS 1690.

Attendance and homework submissions for the CS 1690 seminars are expected; if you miss them without excuse, we will reduce your CS 1670 PLQ and whiteboard discussion grades (up to 35% of the total grade).

Collaboration Policy

Collaboration with other humans is encouraged, especially for the lab. The lab’s collaboration policy is identical to the CS 1670 collaboration policy. You are encouraged to discuss the readings with your classmates, but must submit your own answers to the homework questions.

AI Policy

The AI policy is identical to the CS 1670 AI policy. You may use AI tools to help you understand concepts and generate ideas, but you must not use AI to generate code or written work that you submit for grading unless explicitly permitted by the assignment.

You must also do the readings for CS 1690 seminars (i.e., do not simply have AI summarize them for you) and submit your own answers to the homework questions. AI-generated homework answers will count as non-submission and will be treated as a policy violation unless the homework explicitly tells you to use AI.

Regret Clause

We understand that student life is stressful and stress can lead to poor decisions.

If you slip up and violate the collaboration or AI policy on an assignment, we encourage you to admit what happened to the instructors (not a HTA or UTA) by reaching out to cs-os-instructors@brown.edu. Owning up to the mistake within 24 hours may reduce the penalty associated with a policy violation, at the discretion of the instructors. This is designed to give you an “out” if you cheated in desperation on the night an assignment was due, or allowed someone else to copy your work, and then regret your mistake afterward.

Policies

Attendance

A key component of CS 1690 is the in-person discussion in seminars. Attendance at the Friday CS 1690 seminar sessions is mandatory. One unexcused absence is permitted; additional absences incur a grade penalty.

Remote Participation

As this is the first offering of this version of CS 1690, only in-person students may register. All students must be able to attend seminars in person. We may offer a remote section in future years.

Late Policy

There is no late submission for CS 1690 homeworks, which are due by midnight on Thursday before the seminar. If you have a legitimate reason for missing a homework deadline, please contact the instructors as soon as possible. We will work with you to find a solution, but we cannot guarantee that we can accommodate all requests.

Accommodations and Special Situations

Accommodations

Brown University is committed to full inclusion of all students. Please inform the instructor if you have a disability or other condition that might require accommodations or modification of any of these course procedures. You may email the instructors, come to office hours, or speak with the instructors after class, and your confidentiality is respected. We will do whatever we can to support accommodations recommended by SEAS. For more information contact Student and Employee Accessibility Services (SEAS) at 401-863-9588 or SEAS@brown.edu.

Mental Health

Being a student can be very stressful. If you feel you are under too much pressure or there are psychological issues that are keeping you from performing well at Brown, we encourage you to contact Brown’s Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS). They provide confidential counseling and can provide notes supporting extensions on assignment for health reasons.

Incomplete Policy

If you are enrolled in CS 1690, you can drop the lab at any time, so we do not expect to allow for Incomplete grades for CS 1690 unless you also have an Incomplete grade in CS 1670. Please discuss your situation with the instructors.

If you are enrolled in CS 2670, the incomplete policy from CS 1670 applies.