Teaching microprocessor design and testing

This paper describes the motivation for and experience in developing a senior design course which focuses on the implementation aspects of computer architecture. This course is specifically designed for undergraduate computer engineering curricula. The course objective is to place a RISC CPU design in the context of currently available components and modern design methodologies. The course description and lab assignments that lead to the design of a RISC CPU as the final project are presented. The difficulties, the authors encountered and the laboratory experience are reported.