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Session 1793

The Integration of the Complex Programmable Logic Devices with the Introduction to Digital Logic Design Course Jing Pang Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering California State University, Sacramento

Abstract

The field programmable logic devices (FPLDs), which include both field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs), are modern technologies defining the new essential engineering skills. Although many commercial programmable device products for high education exist on market, they usually have multiple functionalities and they are expensive for many engineering students. In order to offer students more opportunities to use new technologies in the digital labs or at home, the author designed two low cost CPLD boards during the summer of 2004. The author taught computer engineering and electrical engineering students the art of the logic design using the FPLD technology at the California State University, Sacramento (CSUS). This paper describes the issues related to the integration of the CPLD boards with the Introduction to Digital Logic Design course.

Introduction

Introduction to Logic Design is a common engineering course that is offered at many universities. In the past, students studied digital logic circuits by designing the small size transistor–transistor logic (TTL) circuits1 on the breadboards. It was time-consuming and troublesome to wire and modify such circuits. Fortunately, the new FPLD technology allows the designers to use the Hardware Description Language (HDL) to prototype the large size digital circuit quickly2. However, the commercial FPLD products on market are usually expensive. Although some major FPLD vendors such as Xilinx3 and Altera4 donated FPLD boards to universities, the engineering students in many universities had to share boards in the labs due to the limited number of available boards. This paper presents a solution to this problem by using small, and flexible CPLD boards in the Introduction to Digital Logical Design course at CSUS. These boards can be combined with the breadboards for students to design the simplest digital logic gates at the beginning of the class. The more complex designs such as the finite state machines, the simple microprocessors and so on can be implemented on the CPLD boards later in the class. These design activities can not only stimulate students' critical and creative thinking, but also extend their knowledge. This will help them enter upper level digital design classes to build more complex digital system5. The

Proceedings of the 2005 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2005, American Society for Engineering Education

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Pang, J. (2005, June), The Integration Of The Complex Programmable Logic Devices With The Introduction To Digital Logic Design Course Paper presented at 2005 Annual Conference, Portland, Oregon. 10.18260/1-2--14247