Workstation-based logic animation and microarchitecture emulation for teaching introduction to computer engineering

The authors describe two software tools used for teaching logic design and analysis and basic computer organization in the introductory course on computer engineering at the authors´ department. The first computer-aided instruction tool described is a schematic capture, simulation, and logic animation package targeted for teaching combinational and sequential logic concepts. The tool incorporates logic animation capability rather than waveform displays, which allows students to view and control logic values propagating throughout the entire network. The second tool teaches computer organization, including microprogramming concepts, by means of the graphical display of an instructional microprocessor architecture in which users are allowed to view and control internal registers, memory locations, and microcontrol store. Both of the computer-aided instructional tools run on UNIX workstations, with graphics displays, local hard-disk mass storage, and mouse input