A Microprocessor Laboratory for a University Environment

A microprocessor-based laboratory facility is being developed as part of the computer science program in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science of the University of Connecticut. This laboratory is structured to support graduate research in which the microprocessor will play a role, provide a means for introducing microprocessor-based material into the undergraduate computer science and electrical engineering curriculums, and be a medium whereby the untrained computer user who wishes to utilize a microcomputer may do so in a convenient manner. The laboratory is centered on a dual PDP-11 minicomputer system which provides a high level of software and hardware support to the microprocessor activity. This permits software development to take place in a comfortable, real-time environment on a machine suited to such a task plus providing hardware support not inherent in the microcomputer itself. Since a broad spectrum of people will use this facility, the involvement with the microprocessors and related devices must cover a broad spectrum of activities. This will range from new, designs starting at the device level to applications which simply integrate complex off-the-shelf hardware and software functions. To support this the laboratory provides a means to reliably breadboard a prototype of a new microcomputer system or subsystem. This would be done by an individual who is conversant with the intimate details of a given microprocessor device line and is knowledgeable in both hardware and software aspects of digital systems.