MICROPROCESSOR SIMULATION TOOLKIT FOR COMPUTER EDUCATION

RESEARCHERS ARE PERFORMING RESEARCH INVOLVING A RAPID PROTO-TYPE OF A MICROPROCESSOR SIMULATION TOOLKIT (MSTKIT) AND EDUCATION SOFTWARE FOR LEARNING THE INTRICACIES OF COMPUTER PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY. THE KIT IS BEING DEVELOPED FOR CUSTOMIZATION OF EDUCATION MODULES FOR HIGH SCHOOL SENIOR LEVEL UP TO THE SOPHOMORE YEAR AT THE COLLEGE LEVEL, AS WELL AS VOCATIONAL TRAINING. POWERFUL GRAPHICS CAPABILITIES ALLOW THE USER ACCESS TO INFORMATION UNATTAINABLE BY EMULATORS PRESENTED BY HARDWARE BOARDS OR BY COSTLY SOFTWARE/HARDWARE COMBINATIONS. THE FEASIBILITY OF THE CONCEPT OF DEVELOPING NONEXPENSIVE, FLEXIBLE EDUCATION SOFTWARE FOR LEARNING ABOUT MICROPROCESSORS IS BEING EVALUATED, TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THE AVAILABILITY OF EXPENSIVE HARDWARE EMULATORS AND PLATFORM-SPECIFIC KITS. THE FEASIBILITY OF THE KIT IS EVALUATED IN TERMS OF THE CAPABILITY TO LEARN ABOUT VARIOUS MICROPROCESSORS USING APPROPRIATE MICROCOMPUTER INSTRUCTION SETS. BY CREATION OF AN ENVIRONMENT WHERE THE COMPUTER OF INTEREST IS SIMULATED, USERS ARE ABLE TO WRITE AND DEBUG A PROGRAM IN THE RELATED INSTRUCTION SET AND INTERACTIVELY SEE THE INNER WORKINGS OF THAT PARTICULAR MICROPROCESSOR, INCLUDING TIMING DIAGRAMS. CONSIDERATION IS GIVEN TO ADVANCED OPTICAL COMPUTING AND NEURAL COMPUTING. OTHER MICROPROCESSORS (REAL OR FICTITIOUS, THAT IS, USER-CREATED) COULD BE ADDED TO THE KIT.