Introducing Open Source Hardware in Computer Engineering courses

Sharan Kalwani; Subramaniam Ganesan

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Conference: 2021 ASEE North Central Section Conference
Location: University of Toledo, Ohio
Publication Date: March 19, 2021
Start Date: March 19, 2021
End Date: March 20, 2021
Page Count: 11
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--36344
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/36344
Download Count: 699

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Paper Authors

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Sharan Kalwani IEEE

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Sharan Kalwani is an HPC architect well versed in using deploying & managing simulation applications in several industries: automotive, design engineering, IT, bioinformatics, industrial & university research, academic computing, machine learning and the data sciences.

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Subramaniam Ganesan Oakland University

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Dr. Subramaniam Ganesan, is a Professor in the department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Oakland University, Rochester, MI 48309, USA. He has over 30 years of teaching and research experience in Digital Computer systems. He was the chair of the CSE department from1991 to 98. He has published over 100 journal papers, more than 200 papers in conference proceedings, and 3 books. He published a book on Java in 2003. He developed a custom DSP board with software for his DSP book. He is a senior member of IEEE, IEEE Computer Society Distinguished Visiting Speaker, IEEE Region 4 technical activities member and Fellow of ISPE. He received Life time Achievement award from ISAM, Lloyd L. Withrow Distinguished Speaker award from SAE, Best Teacher award from ASEE, and Oakland University. He has organized many international conferences. He is the editor in chief of an International Journal of Embedded system and Computer Engineering and International journal of Sensors and applications. He is the session organizer on “Systems engineering” at SAE world congress for the past 15 years. His research interests are in Real time system, parallel architectures and computer systems, Automotive embedded systems security and signal processing.

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Abstract

Introducing Open Source Hardware in Computer Engineering courses

Sharan Kalwani and Subramaniam Ganesan, Oakland University, Rochester, MI 48309

In this paper we describe introducing usage in computer engineering courses of open source hardware (OSH). Open source refers to something which people can modify and share as the design is publicly accessible. The idea originated from the software development world as a new approach to creating & sharing computer software. Open source projects, products, or initiatives which embrace and celebrate principles of open exchange, collaborative participation, rapid prototyping, transparency, meritocracy, and community-oriented development are hallmarks of actual realization of this concept.

Today there are a large number of open source hardware designs available and being adopted in industry, many of which may not be known to students. Although still relatively new, however it has been growing steadily since 1997. Hardware designs of boards like Arduino, Beagle board, Adafruit and complete microprocessor Instruction Set Architectures using RISC designs such SPARC, Open POWER, Open RISC, ZPU and more recently RISC-V are examples.

We will describe the various OSH products and identify in which courses they can be used. Senior design and upper/post graduate offerings in Computer Engineering are ideally positioned to utilize OSH and we will show some examples. RISC-V and other designs can be taught and used as practical implementations and examples in Computer Architecture & Organization courses. ZPU and similar reference architectures can be used for FPGA based subjects, as well as Embedded Systems tracks. The microprocessor board designs can all be taught using the OSH platforms, illustrating good principles, etc. The side benefits are both advantageous and are numerous: such as encouraging student led designs to be later actually implemented in real life and leading to greater entrepreneurship. Materials can be re-used in successive and spin off courses, increasing the opportunity potential for team work, skills development and much more. Many more course examples and descriptions will be presented in the full paper. By adopting or incorporating OSH features, no longer will computer engineering courses be forced to choose between specific, proprietary or theoretical designs, thus removing limits and opening up exciting potential for the students.

Citation
Format

Kalwani, S., & Ganesan, S. (2021, March), Introducing Open Source Hardware in Computer Engineering courses Paper presented at 2021 ASEE North Central Section Conference, University of Toledo, Ohio. 10.18260/1-2--36344

TY - CPAPER
AB - Introducing Open Source Hardware in Computer Engineering courses

Sharan Kalwani and Subramaniam Ganesan, Oakland University, Rochester, MI 48309

In this paper we describe introducing usage in computer engineering courses of open source hardware (OSH). Open source refers to something which people can modify and share as the design is publicly accessible. The idea originated from the software development world as a new approach to creating &amp;amp; sharing computer software. Open source projects, products, or initiatives which embrace and celebrate principles of open exchange, collaborative participation, rapid prototyping, transparency, meritocracy, and community-oriented development are hallmarks of actual realization of this concept.

Today there are a large number of open source hardware designs available and being adopted in industry, many of which may not be known to students. Although still relatively new, however it has been growing steadily since 1997. Hardware designs of boards like Arduino, Beagle board, Adafruit and complete microprocessor Instruction Set Architectures using RISC designs such SPARC, Open POWER, Open RISC, ZPU and more recently RISC-V are examples.

We will describe the various OSH products and identify in which courses they can be used. Senior design and upper/post graduate offerings in Computer Engineering are ideally positioned to utilize OSH and we will show some examples. RISC-V and other designs can be taught and used as practical implementations and examples in Computer Architecture &amp;amp; Organization courses. ZPU and similar reference architectures can be used for FPGA based subjects, as well as Embedded Systems tracks. The microprocessor board designs can all be taught using the OSH platforms, illustrating good principles, etc. The side benefits are both advantageous and are numerous: such as encouraging student led designs to be later actually implemented in real life and leading to greater entrepreneurship. Materials can be re-used in successive and spin off courses, increasing the opportunity potential for team work, skills development and much more. Many more course examples and descriptions will be presented in the full paper. By adopting or incorporating OSH features, no longer will computer engineering courses be forced to choose between specific, proprietary or theoretical designs, thus removing limits and opening up exciting potential for the students.

AU - Sharan Kalwani
AU - Subramaniam Ganesan
CY - University of Toledo, Ohio
DA - 2021/03/19
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Introducing Open Source Hardware in Computer Engineering courses
UR - https://peer.asee.org/36344
DO - 10.18260/1-2--36344
ER -