Remote FPGA laboratory course development based on an open multimodal laboratory facility

Application of Open-Hardware-Based Solutions for Rapid Transition From Stationary to the Remote Teaching Model During Pandemic

“…The presented remote laboratory has been compared against other architectures from the literature [12]- [15], [18], [19]. The results gathered in Table III indicate that the proposed solution outperforms other systems not only in terms of a short implementation time but also support for the heterogenic FPGA hardware, or flexibility of the virtual I/O interface.…”

“…The first important observation is that almost all of the considered architectures implement the working scheme that is based on availability of the necessary CAD on the client machine [12]- [15], [18]. Such a solution is even promoted as advantageous for reduction of the server load [14].…”

“…Majority of the considered laboratories enable interaction with the hardware through custom Web-based interfaces [12]- [14], [18], [19]. The reasoning behind high popularity of Web-based solutions remains unclear, because the necessity of developing custom applications that reside on the dedicated servers negatively affects the cost and the time required to start the laboratory.…”

“…Instead, the I/O components are remotely controlled through a custom hardware connected to the evaluation board. Another approach, where a microcontroller is used to provide nearly seamless interface with the FPGA hardware, has been considered in [18]. However, this system provides only the emulation of buttons, which narrows down its applicability to relatively simple experiments.…”

“…Their development normally involves laborious debugging/testing which contradict the whole concept of making the system ready to work in a matter of days, rather than weeks, or months. Furthermore, the mentioned solutions shift the burden of CAD setup to the user (here, student) while reducing the role of the remote platform merely to the environment for experimental validation of HDL codes [12]- [18]. Finally, the laboratories from the literature significantly provide access to the hardware only for a short period of time [12]- [14].…”