Learning Hardware Design by implementing student’s Video-Game on a FPGA

This paper presents a methodology to teach the design of complex hardware systems to Computer Engineering students through CAD tools which allow a rapid prototyping and manufacturing of complex systems. The design of such systems requires a broad scope of knowledge and abilities, both for the students and for the teachers. Challenging each student to implement his/her favorite videogame on a FPGA may be an effective method to help them to acquire the necessary skills to design hardware systems with CAD tools. Each student chooses his/her own video-game as the final course project. We have observed that this enhances the motivation required to face the difficulties of handling complex design concepts together with the use of any CAD tools. This yields a more satisfactory experience for students and an increase in the skills gained. An improvement in academic results is also observed.