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

Abstract

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.