Publication Date

2016

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Many computer organization courses teach digital design and processor architecture without a hardware lab or physical equipment. This paper introduces a module to allow students to export digital designs as C programs that run on an inexpensive Arduino Uno, thereby allowing students to test and observe their designs in actual hardware with minimal setup time and equipment. The module runs within Emumaker86, an open-source digital design tool previously developed by the author for teaching microprocessor architecture, and can handle designs ranging from simple combinational circuits to a complete processor. Students were given this module in an undergraduate "Systems Computing" course, and developed a traffic light controller, a postfix evaluator, and a processor of their own design.

Original Citation

Black, M. (2016). Export to Arduino: A Tool to Teach Processor Design on Real Hardware. Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges, 31(6), 21-26.

Rights

Copyright © 2016 by the Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges. Permission to copy without fee all or part of this material is granted provided that the copies are not made or distributed for direct commercial advantage, the CCSC copyright notice and the title of the publication and its date appear, and notice is given that copying is by permission of the Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges. To copy otherwise, or to republish, requires a fee and/or specific permission.

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