Third party funded individual grant
Start date : 01.11.2009
End date : 31.03.2011
Description Since November 2009 we are developing Online-Courses concerning FPGAs (Field Programable Gate Arrays) for the "Virtuelle Hochschule Bayern". Modules There will be three modules: Basics of FPGAs Field Programmable Devices (and Application) Reconfigurable Computing All modules consist of a lecture part and an exercise part. Target Audience The module "Basics of FPGAs" is suitable for a one semester course for bachelor-degree studies (5 ECTS). The modules "Field Programmable Devices (and Application)" and "Reconfigurable Computing" cover more advanced topics and are intented for master-degree studies (5 ECTS). The modules are also well-suited for further education of people with a technical background, who want to extend or update their knowledge. Learning Goals Participants will learn about the structure and function of FPGAs and how to program them in a Top-Down-Designstrategy. They will also be able to recognize the application area of FPGAs, the pros and cons of specific FPGAs and know about their drawbacks and opportunities compared to ASIC- and µProcessor-based solutions. Virtual Lab To do practical exercises the students will be able to work with real FPGA-Boards via the Internet. They can control the boards using a Web-Browser and can see the results via Webcams. There are several basic boards available at the chair of Computer-Architecture at Erlangen and at the Embedded Systems Lab in Passau. Some more advanced boards are located at the Chair for Hardware-Software-Co-Design at Erlangen. Students will be able to choose a free board via the WWW depending on the course they are enrolled. Implementation The material of the modules is written in XML. We use the eLML - eLesson Markup Language developed at the University of Zürich. For the course management we make use of the Learning Management System "moodle".