The aim of this project is the development of a standardized course on hardware/software interfaces appropriate for students in a computer science curriculum. This would be an upper division class requiring courses in digital logic, machine organization and computer architecture and affecting 500 students over the next five years at the University of Texas. With the aid of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, the Department of Computer Sciences has identified an appropriate curriculum, a set of laboratory exercises and laboratory equipment for the class. The basic unit in such a laboratory is a large, hard disk based microcomputer built around a modern chip and bus structure and having an open system architecture.. Ten Macintosh IIs will be used for this purpose. Other items are an oscilloscope and multimeter for each station, appropriate software, a logic analyses, prom burner, and printing capabilities. This project is significant because it represents a cooperative effort between Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. The practical goal is to structure a course which can be supported by faculty and technical staff of a typical computer science department. The pedagogical goal is to teach concepts and uses of mixed hardware/software systems while maintaining a computer science perspective on software development and systems organization. A joint committee from electrical engineering and computer science will evaluate and guide the development of the class. This process should guarantee that the course will be valuable as a model to other computer science departments.
