Giuliano Donzellini

Electronic systems design: An experiment of project-based learning on network

The NetPro project creates models, methods, tools and materials for network-based project learning in engineering education. This new environment is a distributed system that facilitates sharing and peer reviewing of project deliverables and interaction in special interest group discussions. The paper presents as an example the pilot course on Electronic Systems Design and its preliminary evaluation.

Design and Construction of an Arbitrary Waveform Generator

The purpose of this paper is to describe the design and characteristics of an arbitrary waveform generator, built at the Biophysical and Electronic Engineering Division of the Electrical Engineering Department of the University of Genoa, which exhibits the following features: a) The signal waveform is any band-limited periodic signal, whose frequency content ranges from 0.125 mHz up to 30 MHz. The low-frequency limit has been chosen in order to meet the needs of bioengineering, mechanical, and chemical applications. The high-frequency limit covers, for instance, TV and image processing applications. b) The noise level is at least 66 dB below the maximum signal level. c) Typical distortion is less than -66 dB. d) The generators performance can be easily improved, depending on the availability of up-to-date solid-state devices, without changing its design.

From gates to embedded systems: A bottom-up approach to digital design

The paper presents Deeds, an educational tool for digital design. Deeds covers combinational and sequential logic networks, finite state machines, microcomputer assembly programming and interfacing. It provides quasi-professional simulation features with an extremely simple user interface. Deeds can be seen as a learning environment based on three simulators integrated together, associated with a large repository of application projects, available on the web. Deeds supports the learning of contemporary digital design, from logic gates to the basics of embedded systems, helping to build a solid foundation for further study. The paper contains an example of a laboratory session dealing with a system including a state machine, standard logic and a microcomputer with a simple interrupt controller.

Learning environment for digital electronics

A learning environment for digital electronics is presented, which makes use of the newest information technologies to support all phases of the learning process. Stress is put on the simulation-based software tools that provide interactive learning and allow one to overcome some inherent to the subject difficulties concerning the simultaneous time-dependent presentation in different domains. A structuring mechanism is proposed that facilitates the education software sharing and reuse. Some examples of the practical application of the discussed criteria are shown. Analysis of the impact of using the learning environment to the education results and the trainers role in the process has been performed.

A Learning Analytics Methodology to Profile Students Behavior and Explore Interactions with a Digital Electronics Simulator

The automatic collection of data concerning the interaction between students and Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) systems has become increasingly common. Such data availability has led to applications of Learning Analytics (LA) techniques, characterized by the capability of extracting non-trivial patterns from them. In this framework, we describe the methodology we are adopting to explore the way students learn the concepts of digital electronics by exploiting LA. In particular, a simulator named DEEDS (Digital Electronics Education and Design Suite) is used, and we aim at extracting non-trivial knowledge from data, gathered through a logging application, properly realized for monitoring DEEDS usage.

A bottom-up approach to digital design with FPGA

Deeds is a tool, specifically designed for educational applications, for design and simulation of digital systems based on combinational and sequential blocks, finite state machines and microcomputers. Deeds is characterized by an extremely simple user interface and it is associated with a large repository of application projects, available on the web. The paper presents a newly developed feature of Deeds, conceived for introducing FPGA-based systems in a first course of digital design based on Deeds. This extension allows students to compile a project into an FPGA chip directly from Deeds, leaving in the background the operations performed by the FPGA specific EDA tool. The main advantage is a smoother transition between Deeds and a professional design environment.

From gates to FPGA: Learning digital design with Deeds

The new technological scenarios demand the introduction of FPGA very early in digital design curricula. The approach that we present in the paper is based on a new tool that extends the features of the Digital Electronics Education and Design Suite (Deeds). The FPGA extension allows students to compile a project generated with Deeds into an FPGA chip, reducing to a minimum the interaction with the FPGA-specific CAD. The tool allows the student to associate all the inputs and outputs of the Deeds project to the devices and resources of an FPGA development board and generates all the VHDL and script files needed by the CAD to compile the project and load it on the board for testing. An extensive field test on a large number of students has proved its pedagogical value.

Project based learning in Internet

Project based learning (PEL) is a well-established reality in engineering education. Internet technologies enhance traditional PEL by offering new resources, tools and services. They add, for instance, the possibility to define distributed projects, where project parts are developed by geographically distant persons or teams. The paper presents the characteristics and the results of NetPro, an EU-supported project that has created models, methods, tools and learning materials for network-based project learning (NPBL) in engineering education. The models applied are those of engineering work practice, adapted to an educational context. NetPro student teams may form cross-institutional learning communities that share and peer review project deliverables and interact in special interest group discussions. Running pilot projects tests NetPro methodologies and tools. The paper describes in some details the pilot supporting first year courses in the field of digital electronic design.

An object oriented machine for control applications

Microprocessor design and manufacturing have experienced great improvements in the last years. However object-oriented concepts, in spite of their widespread diffusion as a programming principle, have not been given great attention in hardware design. This paper presents an object-oriented machine, currently under development, which incorporates (at the machine-code level) some mechanisms needed for manipulating objects and methods. The processor, oriented to control applications, is composed of a commercial, full-32-bit RISC processor acting as the computing core, and additional circuitry. The additional elements constitute a shell, providing dedicated registers and functions for dealing with class instances and related methods. A mechanism for tracking called methods, by hardware support of the Virtual Method Table, is provided in parallel to the normal calling operation of the processor. The overhead associated with this mechanism, normally taken in charge by the core processor, is therefore left to the additional circuitry.

Boolean Algebra and Combinational Logic

This chapter introduces to the idea of digitally representing analog quantities and goes step by step through the main concepts of the Boolean algebra: variables, functions, truth tables, operations, and properties. The chapter is quite detailed and accompanied by many examples and exercises in order to provide a precise framework of the fundamentals of digital design. It includes the theorems which constitute the foundation for the application of the Boolean algebra to logic networks, with a precise focus on their application for combinational network design.