Computer Engineering Education Experiences with RISC-V Architectures—From Computer Architecture to Microcontrollers
With the growing popularity of RISC-V and various open-source released RISC-V processors, it is now possible for computer engineers students to explore this simple and relevant architecture, and also, these students can explore and design a microcontroller at a low-level using real tool-flows and im...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2022-08-01
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| Series: | Journal of Low Power Electronics and Applications |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9268/12/3/45 |
| _version_ | 1797486422690627584 |
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| author | Peter Jamieson Huan Le Nathan Martin Tyler McGrew Yicheng Qian Eric Schonauer Alan Ehret Michel A. Kinsy |
| author_facet | Peter Jamieson Huan Le Nathan Martin Tyler McGrew Yicheng Qian Eric Schonauer Alan Ehret Michel A. Kinsy |
| author_sort | Peter Jamieson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | With the growing popularity of RISC-V and various open-source released RISC-V processors, it is now possible for computer engineers students to explore this simple and relevant architecture, and also, these students can explore and design a microcontroller at a low-level using real tool-flows and implement and test their hardware. In this work, we describe our experiences with undergraduate engineers building RISC-V architectures on an FPGA and then extending their experiences to implement an Arduino-like RISC-V tool-flow and the respective hardware and software to handle input-output ports, interrupts, hardware timers, and communication protocols. The microcontroller is implemented on an FPGA as a Senior Design project to test the viability of such efforts. In this work, we will explain how undergraduates can achieve these experiences including preparation for these projects, the tool-flows they use, the challenges in understanding and extending a RISC-V processor with microcontroller functionality, and a suggestion of how to integrate this learning into an existing curriculum, including a discussion on if we should include these deeper experiences in the Computer Engineering undergraduate curriculum. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T23:33:00Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-46bedda1feb74169a773aaf6125c9cbb |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2079-9268 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T23:33:00Z |
| publishDate | 2022-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Low Power Electronics and Applications |
| spelling | doaj.art-46bedda1feb74169a773aaf6125c9cbb2023-11-23T17:05:38ZengMDPI AGJournal of Low Power Electronics and Applications2079-92682022-08-011234510.3390/jlpea12030045Computer Engineering Education Experiences with RISC-V Architectures—From Computer Architecture to MicrocontrollersPeter Jamieson0Huan Le1Nathan Martin2Tyler McGrew3Yicheng Qian4Eric Schonauer5Alan Ehret6Michel A. Kinsy7Electrical and Computer Engineering, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056, USAElectrical and Computer Engineering, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056, USAElectrical and Computer Engineering, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056, USAElectrical and Computer Engineering, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056, USAElectrical and Computer Engineering, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056, USAElectrical and Computer Engineering, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056, USASecure, Trusted, and Assured Microelectronics Center, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281, USASecure, Trusted, and Assured Microelectronics Center, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85281, USAWith the growing popularity of RISC-V and various open-source released RISC-V processors, it is now possible for computer engineers students to explore this simple and relevant architecture, and also, these students can explore and design a microcontroller at a low-level using real tool-flows and implement and test their hardware. In this work, we describe our experiences with undergraduate engineers building RISC-V architectures on an FPGA and then extending their experiences to implement an Arduino-like RISC-V tool-flow and the respective hardware and software to handle input-output ports, interrupts, hardware timers, and communication protocols. The microcontroller is implemented on an FPGA as a Senior Design project to test the viability of such efforts. In this work, we will explain how undergraduates can achieve these experiences including preparation for these projects, the tool-flows they use, the challenges in understanding and extending a RISC-V processor with microcontroller functionality, and a suggestion of how to integrate this learning into an existing curriculum, including a discussion on if we should include these deeper experiences in the Computer Engineering undergraduate curriculum.https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9268/12/3/45RISC-VFPGAcomputer architecturemicrocontrollerundergraduate curriculum |
| spellingShingle | Peter Jamieson Huan Le Nathan Martin Tyler McGrew Yicheng Qian Eric Schonauer Alan Ehret Michel A. Kinsy Computer Engineering Education Experiences with RISC-V Architectures—From Computer Architecture to Microcontrollers Journal of Low Power Electronics and Applications RISC-V FPGA computer architecture microcontroller undergraduate curriculum |
| title | Computer Engineering Education Experiences with RISC-V Architectures—From Computer Architecture to Microcontrollers |
| title_full | Computer Engineering Education Experiences with RISC-V Architectures—From Computer Architecture to Microcontrollers |
| title_fullStr | Computer Engineering Education Experiences with RISC-V Architectures—From Computer Architecture to Microcontrollers |
| title_full_unstemmed | Computer Engineering Education Experiences with RISC-V Architectures—From Computer Architecture to Microcontrollers |
| title_short | Computer Engineering Education Experiences with RISC-V Architectures—From Computer Architecture to Microcontrollers |
| title_sort | computer engineering education experiences with risc v architectures from computer architecture to microcontrollers |
| topic | RISC-V FPGA computer architecture microcontroller undergraduate curriculum |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9268/12/3/45 |
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