Soft-Core Processors : Understanding Computer Architectures and Processing Principles

Lectures on computer architectures held at the University of Rostock indicate that a growing number of students is lacking a firm understanding of the fundamentals in the design, configuration, and programming of microprocessors. Nowadays, advanced programming techniques and design principles as well as sophisticated tools and compilers hide those basic elements. Furthermore, the faculty cannot afford to extent the classes due to the generally increasing amount of teaching content. In order to relieve these problems, this paper describes a set of practical exercises that are based on a combination of simple field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) and state-ofthe-art soft-core processors. A noteworthy advantage of the chosen platform is that it allows for going along with the lectures by providing both a simple to use education kit for the basic parts and a sophisticated system for the cutting edge topics, such as multiprocessor systems or hardware/software co-design.