A method to design, construct and test digital hardware all in classroom environment

A new technique is presented that allows an instructor to bring the hardware construction and the laboratory experiments into the classroom environment through the Internet. The technique also provides the students with the opportunity to do their entire design projects, including building the hardware and fully testing and debugging the system all from a Web terminal. An experimental unit, called e-Lab, is prototyped and tested for variety of design examples. The present e-Lab consists of a Xilinx SPARTAN-3E FGPA development board interfaced with a laboratory PC through a National Instruments Lab View and other I/Os such as RS232 serial port and USB ports. This allows the Lab PC to take over the entire control and monitor the board. Then with the use of Microsoft XP Remote Desktop all control and monitoring done by the Lab PC is transferred to the local PC through the Internet.