Physical Science, Measurement and Instrumentation, Management and Education, IEE Proceedings A

The authors describe a reconfigurable microprocessor teaching tool (RMTT) package for use in a microprocessor systems course. It uses the Z80 CPU, or a user-defined 8-bit CPU that is similar to the internal architecture of the Z80, as the basis for describing how an 8-bit CPU functions internally and as the master of a microcomputer system. The package, which consists of an assembler, a control unit emulator and a graphics simulator, is used as a powerful teaching tool that enables the student to learn about the internal architecture of a microprocessor, as applied to an 8-bit CPU and a user-defined instruction set with a step-by-step graphics animation of the instruction execution and timing. The package allows the user to execute a program step by step and to test the operation of the internal registers, buses and memory contents at every clock edge. This will help the student to understand exactly how the hardware works, for any user-defined instruction set, at the instruction cycle, machine cycle or clock cycle level. It also simulates read/write cycles from/memory and input/output devices. It allows the user to write and debug programs at the assembly language or machine-code level. The low cost and high reliability of the package makes it particularly attractive to teaching establishments as an efficient teaching aid in the introductory course on microprocessor systems. The package is menu-driven, interactive, flexible and user-friendly.