Integration of Microprocessors and FPGAs for the Education in Digital Systems Design

One of the fundamental objectives of industrial electronics engineering education must be to provide students with the ability to design control systems to be used in industry. Microprocessors, microcontrollers and DSPs are the core of many of these systems. On the other hand, configurable devices are used in an increasingly number of industrial applications, in many cases in conjunction with microprocessors. Therefore, it is interesting to address the education of digital systems design through the joint and complementary use of both types of devices. This paper presents the application of this approach to an advanced course on digital design at University of Vigo. Both methodological and practical issues are discussed.