Diverse hardware platforms in embedded systems lab courses

Abstract

Traditional methods for teaching the design of embedded systems usually deal with either a hardware or a software view of the system. In computer science it is mostly the software view. The hardware issues taught mostly deal with CPU based systems only and seldom with reconfigurable hardware. We recommend having a more general view at embedded systems in the way that it is always a programmable hardware platform (CPU based or reconfigurable hardware) which has to be programmed in a suitable programming language. In this context we offer a lab course where students should get familiar with different hardware platforms used in embedded systems. They should solve the same task both with a CPLD and a microcontroller each in order to clarify the differences between the two implementations. In this paper our experiences in this field of embedded systems education are described as well as our plans to continue.

Design of an Embedded Control System Laboratory Experiment

“…Note, however, that too small microcontrollers may not be powerful enough for running an RTOS, as discussed in [22]. Among the several possibilities available on the market [23], it was decided to adopt the Flex board [24].…”

Open Development Platform for Embedded Systems

“…With this type of component, the final application design consists primarily in the development of software running on them. In order to reduce development times as well as being able to use these platforms in highly complex functions, manufacturers have made an effort in software development environments (Salewski, 2005). Thus, in recent years, the new MCUs are characterized by supporting several operating system because they provide a convenient way for software applications development.…”

Educational case studies with an open source embedded real-time Java processor

“…The setup in this paper, where an embedded system like JOP is programmed with Java and VHDL, is both very easy and very complex at the same time. Some embedded educators prefer reconfigurable hardware [17]. There are other interesting virtual machines suitable for education like leJOS.…”