Hardware Systems Teaching Laboratory
The UNC Department of Computer Science believes that understanding
basic hardware system design issues will enable our students, after
graduation, to be more effective members of design teams consisting
of specialists from many disciplines. We, therefore, set the goal
of expanding the computer science graduate and undergraduate
programs beyond a software-only focus to include instruction in the
art and science of building complete information processing systems.
In working toward this goal, the Department of Computer Science
has added a teaching faculty position in this area, created a
three-course series on hardware systems, and opened the Hardware
Systems Teaching Laboratory.
The three-course series is designed: 1) to acquaint students with little
or no previous hardware background with the issues and practice of
designing computing hardware, 2) to further advance their understanding
of the current practice of computer systems design with an emphasis on
providing a grounding in the fundamentals on which future team leaders
can build, and 3) to mentor the students through the development of a
complete hardware-software computing system, not as a toy project but
rather as a functioning system to support their research.
The University committed space for the lab and funds to staff it and
equip it with workbenches, cabinets, and supplies. The Hardware Systems
Teaching Laboratory opened its doors in the fall of 1997, coinciding
with the first course offering in hardware systems. This course far
exceeded enrollment predictions.
Intel's Technology for Education 2000 program donated computers to
provide both the experimental platforms and the CAD tools for this
new laboratory. Each workbench in the lab now has two computer
systems--one to be used as an experimental testbed and the other
as a CAD/instrument system.
Student projects include a wide variety of information
sensing, processing, and display elements with a combination of
special-purpose and conventional hardware and a strong software
component. Using Intel computers with WindowsNT operating system
software, students become acquainted with interface issues on the
systems they are most likely to encounter in future designs.
The CAD software and instrumentation hardware runs on a separate
Intel-donated computer at each workbench. We believe that the
combination of design and simulation software with standard data
acquisition hardware and software at each station will: 1) draw in
students who are naturally more familiar and comfortable with
software-based tools, and 2) represent the sort of design and test
tools they are most likely to use when working on future design teams.
The second course in the three-part series will be offered during the
spring semester 1999.
Last content review: 19 July 2001
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