Experiences with FPGA teaching

At the Manchester School of Engineering a specialist 3 year undergraduate programme entitled Electronic Systems Engineering was introduced in 1991. The focus of this programme is on digital systems and VLSI design. It differs significantly from other degree programmes offered by the Division by having a fast-track digital systems design course in year 1 followed in year 2 by a VLSI project to be completed in the final year. The aim of the programme is to develop the students´ ability to implement complex electronic systems. Throughout the course Mentor Graphics running on HP workstations is used so that the students do not lose valuable time learning new CAD packages each time they undertake a new module. In the first year the laboratory exercises concentrate on schematic capture, hierarchy and simulation. In the second year students start to design digital systems by undertaking a group project. During the latter part of the second year and throughout the final year students undertake a final year project which targets Xilinx 4000 series FPGAs