A considerable improvement of the traditional FPGA-based digital design methodology by using an Arduino sensor board (original) (raw)

Advanced Digital Laboratory: An FPGA-Based Remote Laboratory for Teaching Digital Electronics

The experimentation component of most Science and Engineering curricula in Nigeria is inadequate. In Obafemi Awolowo University for example, undergraduate students typically carry out around five assignments related to digital electronics, and there is no treatment whatsoever of Field Programmable Gate Arrays(FPGAs). In the research work being reported, an attempt has been made to develop a remote laboratory though which the number of digital electronics experiments students carry out can be increased. The remote laboratory, called the Advanced Digital Lab (ADLab), allows students to synthesis digital systems on an FPGA with a hardware description language. To achieve this, a development board with an Altera Cyclone II FPGA is connected to a computer implementing the server tier of the iLab batched architecture. The client through which the remote student interacts with the ADLab is implemented with Java, which allows for a reasonable amount of platform independence. This paper discusses the software and hardware aspects of the ADLab architecture and gives some insight into some design decisions. The paper also reports that the system is being tested at Obafemi Awolowo University and that student feedback so far indicates high student satisfaction with the remote laboratory.

Low Cost FPGA Development System For Teaching Advanced Digital Circuits

2001 Annual Conference Proceedings

This paper covers the development of student development system to use with the Altera Max+ PLUS software for teaching Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGA's) and Complex Programmable Logic Devices (CPLD's). This software is available free of charge from Altera directly for students to download for use in at home or can be installed via an educational license in any university laboratory. The student version of the software includes a schematic editor and design entry, waveform editor for design entry, Altera Hardware Description Language design (AHDL) Entry, and the industry standard VHDL (VHSIC (Very High Speed Integrated Circuits) Hardware Description Language) design entry. Thus this system can be used to teach all of the major design techniques used in modern digital circuit design. The hardware portion of the development system includes an in-circuit programmable Altera CPLD on a printed circuit board (PCB) with adequate space on the breadboard area for students to development their own projects. The programming is done using a standard PC parallel port; thus there is no need for any additional programming hardware. Also mounted on the board are DB-25 and DB-9 connectors for implementing serial communication laboratories. The current system is using a standard student breadboard that is mounted onto the development board, and jumpers are used to connect the pins from the CPLD to the breadboard area or the serial connectors. There is also a laboratory manual, containing thirteen laboratory assignments and a list of final projects, that accompanies the development system designed to take a second semester Electrical Engineering Technology student from a basic introduction to Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) to a final project using the Altera Hardware Descriptive Language (AHDL), along with a short introduction to VHDL. The manual stresses basic design techniques along with simulation analysis prior to implementing the designs on the development hardware. The board has been used at Indiana Purdue University at Fort Wayne for the last three years, and the laboratory manual has just been developed.

FPGA based digital electronics education and a simulator core design for a/d communication

2009

In this study we present a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) core (mega-function) design prepared to simulate the communication between an Analog to Digital Converter (ADC) and FPGA which were both located on an education board. The simulator core imitates ADS7824 coded ADC Integrated Circuit (IC). It is tested that the simulator core helps students to understand ADC theory better and make more practical and reliable designs related to ADC. We have preferred Graphics design for Educational purposes and all design steps were given in the study. This study included to a project called "FPGA based digital Electronic education" as an instructive and attractive example. This core can be used not only by students for educational purposes but also by Electronic Designers for general design purposes.

Studies on the Necessity to Integrate the FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) Circuits in the Digital Electronics Lab Didactic Activity

International Journal of Modern Education and Computer Science, 2015

The FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) circuits contain programmable logic components and are increasingly popular in implementing the applications for obtaining and processing signals. FPGA represents a modern development trend in digital electronics. The integration in the work with students of this trend is a difficult task, but also useful, because many students face problems when they must use a design environment. The application of FPGA technology can be useful to students either for the laboratory work on advanced topics, or for obtaining skills to use an industry standard design environment. The purpose of this paper is to conduct studies on the need to integrate the FPGA digital electronics trend in the laboratory didactic activity of the students. As case study, we present the design of a control circuit and its implementation in a FPGA, i.e. on a Basys2 board with Xilinx programming environment.

Development of Microcontroller/ FPGA-based systems

Microcontrollers and field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) both are widely used in digital system design. Microcontroller-based instruments are becoming increasingly widespread. On one hand, their high speed, power and falling prices make them an obvious choice. On the other hand, the fast growing popularity of FPGAs, the availability of powerful development tools, and the increase in speed and high density have made FPGA-based systems an alternative choice. Due to the importance of both technologies to undergraduate students, this paper discusses the importance of both technologies and presents the experience in teaching both. The design, implementation and testing of a typical project completed, based on both a microcontroller and a FPGA is presented. Students' reactions, encountered problems and skills gained are also reported.

An Undergraduate Course and Laboratory in Digital Signal Processing With Field Programmable Gate Arrays

IEEE Transactions on Education, 2000

In this paper, an innovative educational approach to introducing undergraduates to both digital signal processing (DSP) and field programmable gate array (FPGA)-based design in a onesemester course and laboratory is described. While both DSP and FPGA-based courses are currently present in different curricula, this integrated approach reduces the number of electives students would have to take and at the same time provides a hands-on DSP experience. Developing such a new course with no textbook available is challenging. Therefore, the educational materials developed, the software tool evaluations, and topics to be covered in lectures and laboratories are described. Detailed evaluations of the selection of appropriate software and hardware platforms, topics to cover, and student feedback are provided.

Special Features of the Educational Component Design of Devices on Microcontrollers and Fpga

MC&FPGA-2020, 2020

Questions of features of the distribution and the implementation of the educational component "Design of devices on microcontrollers and field programmed logical gate arrays" with the support of all stakeholders' requirements to the latest technical knowledge are considered. Structural and technical description of the educational component is discussed.

A Project-based Approach to FPGA-aided Teaching of Digital Systems

Proceeding of the Electrical Engineering Computer Science and Informatics

This article shares experience and lessons learned in teaching course on programmable logic design at Universitas Muhammadiyah Surakarta, Indonesia. This course is part of bachelor of engineering (electrical) degree program. Projectbased approach is chosen to strengthen these students' understanding and practical skills. Each year's project involves challenges for the students to solve by implementing digital system on an FPGA design board. Here, background and curriculum context of the course will be presented. The projects and their challenges will be discussed. Finally, lessons learned and future improvement on the student projects will be discussed.

Methods and Experience of Using Matlab and FPGA For Teaching Practice in Digital Signal Processing

Digital Signal Processing is a curriculum closely integrated by theory, implementation and application. With the development of microelectronics technology in recent years, the emergence of variety of chips makes digital signal processing widely used in various fields. Therefore, almost all of the electronic and computer engineering departments are now offering the digital signal processing courses. The main content of this course is abstract signal processing and transforming, involving a large number of mathematical knowledge and basic theory. The Matlab software can make the signal be presented in the form of visualized graphic image. Besides, FPGA, DSP and other high-performance chips can make digital signal processing technology widely used in various fields. Leading Matlab and FPGA into the teaching of digital signal processing is useful to improve the students' mastery of the knowledge points and enhance interest in learning. In this paper, for the purpose of radar real-time processing system application, methods of using Matlab and FPGA for teaching knowledge points such as bandpass sampling, polyphase filters, FFT processing, etc. are introduced.

FPGA platform based digital design education

Proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Computer Systems and Technologies and Workshop for PhD Students in Computing - CompSysTech '08, 2008

This paper gives an overview of how the FPGA (field-programmable gate array) technology is integrated into digital design educational process at Tallinn University of Technology (TUT). Paper focuses on the set of laboratory exercises introduced for "Advanced Digital Design" (IAY0080) course taught to postgraduate students, covering equipment, software and methodology, as well as plans for future improvements.