Students who currently graduate with a major in Computer Science have an unrealistic picture of the methods of modern digital hardware design and in most cases lack any hands-on experience in working with digital circuits. Even people who intend to work only with software need knowledge of this material. There is, for example, an increasing tendency to use retargetable compilers, which require as input a high-level description of the hardware on which the software will ultimately operate. In order to use the hardware effectively, a programmer should understand something about the architecture of the processor on which the code will operate. Many new architectures are being developed as a result of advances in VLSI (Very Large Scale Integrated circuit) design. It is the objective of this proposal to give all of our students some knowledge of the methods that are used in designing modern digital circuits. We also wish to provide those students who are interested with hands-on experience in designing and using digital logic as a method of teaching them about computer architecture.
All students will be taught about VHDL (VHSIC (Very High-Speed Integrated Circuit) Hardware Description Language) and will use CAD (Computer Aided Design) tools to design and simulate circuits. A lab will be used in teaching computer architecture to enable interested students to work with the hardware. Students who take the new architecture course will have the opportunity to design, interface, and test a working processor, The intended outcome of this project is not to produce highly skilled computer designers, but rather, to turn out computer scientists who can make maximum use of architectures that are produced by them and who can work in the area of developing the tools that they use. The project should also generate teaching materials that can be used by other institutions. The results will be disseminated both over the Internet and through conventional publication.
