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Design of Application-Specific Integrated Circuits for Implementation in a Network of Remote Labs

Abstract

A solution to implement a remote laboratory for testing and designing analog Application- Specific Integrated Circuits of the type (ispPAC10) is presented. The application allows electrical engineering students to access and perform measurements and conduct analog electronics experiments over the internet. PAC-Designer software, running on a Citrix server, is used in the circuit design in which the signals are generated and the responses are acquired by a data acquisition board controlled by LabView. Three interconnected remote labs located in three different continents will be implementing the proposed system.

Introduction

Technology-enhanced learning is becoming a new important trend in higher education worldwide. In particular, engineering education is becoming an exciting emerging field of research because it involves a multitude of disciplines which aim to resolve the pedagogical problems that arise with the advancement of technology. In addition, laboratory experiments and instruments are becoming sophisticated and expensive for universities to purchase and maintain. Remote labs offer a solution and represent a practical alternative through which students may conduct experiments online, anywhere and at anytime. Compared with traditional laboratory practice, remote labs offer flexible learning in time and place, access to a wide number of distributed experiments and cost-cutting strategies 1-4. Nevertheless, it is still difficult to share instrumentation and experiments among laboratories3. Each one has its own security policy and adopts a proper technology in accessing and controlling real devices. A common integrated framework, offering indexing facilities, unique logins, file sharing and the seamless access and run of experiments, is the main challenge in order to create a network of online laboratories. Grid technologies can be used to set up an effective network of remote laboratories for education purposes by sharing instrumentation and resources. However, the evolution of remote laboratories from the current client/server architecture to grid-based architecture requires well-defined tools for location, security, and integration of resources, and further research is currently being conducted to examine this issue5-7. From the engineering education point of view, the main goal of developing remote laboratories remains the necessity to provide instructors with a tool for creating resources for designing electronics experiments for students to perform online. Such experiments may involve controlling the gain of an amplifier or designing different types of filters and activating relays, electronic switches, among other devices, without concern to the problems related to programming instruments, hardware communication and their integration to the Internet. This would eventually enable students to focus on the aspects related to the subject they want to explore. In this paper, an analog electronics interactive laboratory (iLab) is developed, at Princess Sumaya University for Technology, Jordan, as an attempt to enable students to perform remotely and in real time several distinct experiments. The laboratory will form part of a network of web- based remote labs as efforts; by the Remote Electronic Lab (REL), Carinthia University of

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Auer, M., & Al-Zoubi, A., & Zutin, D. G. (2008, June), Design Of Application Specific Integrated Circuits For Implementation In A Network Of Remote Labs Paper presented at 2008 Annual Conference & Exposition, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 10.18260/1-2--3103