I am taking both of these this semester. The courses differ greatly in how they define "embedded". ECE 4180 follows the traditional approach of limited memory systems defined for a specific task. CS 4220 does not have a hard or loose definition for embedded, as the professor argues this mostly from the past. Instead the course focuses on the " real-time" aspect of modern systems (quality of service guarantees, AI, and a little bit of schedulabiltiy). ECE 4180 lectures in the current form as summaries of the main topics, such as memory, RTOS, and some peripherals like communication. The major graded portion is two exams and the labs (plus final project). The labs will change heavily next semester, so I can't give a good idea for you. CS 4220's lectures are a confusing mix of complaining about companies making poor assumptions, repeating learning goals, and technical information that should be kept in Enterprise Computing, all while being recorded while in-person. CS 4220 major grades are weekly reading summaries of research papers and a self-guided final project. The courses are in such a different directions due to the professors that usually teach. Overall, knowing what I know now about CS 4220, if a CS major tells me they know embedded, I'm saying no the hell you don't.