Teaching computer organization/architecture with limited resources using simulators

  • Authors:
  • Gregory S. Wolffe;William Yurcik;Hugh Osborne;Mark A. Holliday

  • Affiliations:
  • Grand Valley St. Univ., Allendale, MI;Illinois St. Univ., Normal, IL;U. of Huddersfield, W. Yorkshire U.K.;W. Carolina Univ., Cullowhee, NC

  • Venue:
  • SIGCSE '02 Proceedings of the 33rd SIGCSE technical symposium on Computer science education
  • Year:
  • 2002

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Abstract

As the complexity and variety of computer system hardware increases, its suitability as a pedagogical tool in computer organization/architecture courses diminishes. As a consequence, many instructors are turning to simulators as teaching aids, often using valuable teaching/research time to construct them. Many of these simulators have been made freely available on the Internet, providing a useful and time-saving resource for other instructors. However, finding the right simulator for a particular course or topic can itself be a time-consuming process. The goal of this paper is to provide an easy-to-use survey of free and Internet-accessible computer system simulators as a resource for all instructors of computer organization and computer architecture courses.