Visual embedded system programming has arrived!

Abstract

Many ECE graduates have only limited experience with design and integration of mixed-signal, embedded systems. This is in part due to the multitude of topics that must be taught to students during a very limited period of time. Fortunately, recent advances in reconfigurable hardware/software platforms and Visual Programming tools have the potential to dramatically address this deficiency, and enable a paradigm shift in ECE undergraduate education towards complex systems and networks of systems. This paper presents new educational material based on Visual Programming and reconfigurable mixed-signal systems on a chip to teach mixed-domain co-design and integration, including analog, digital, and software. The paper presents a new introductory course for freshmen ECE students, which is currently being developed at Stony Brook University, and a senior design project that was successfully completed at Hofstra University.