Integrating Hardware and Software in a Computer Engineering Laboratory

A systematic approach to the design of a multipurpose computer engineering laboratory is presented. An essential ingredient of a successful computer engineering program, and of an effective laboratory servicing that program, is that the hardware and software aspects of the curriculum be truly integrated. The laboratory described here is designed around a central resource-sharing minicomputer to which are connected minimal microcomputer stations. This configuration is proposed as the most cost-effective and the most educationally effective approach to the integration of hardware and software in a microcomputer curriculum.