The Introductory course In computer
architecture or machine organization required of most
electrical and computer engineering students bas evolved
substantially in recent years as tecbnologlcal advances
bave led to ever Increasing processor sopblstlcatlon. In
most cases the introductory course Is still built around
traditional Instruction set arcbltectures (lSA) using actual
or simulated processors. However tbe future will require
that worklllg engineers be able to effectively use blgbly
lotegrated distributed arrays of computational resources.
Witb tbe widespread use of field programmable gate
arrays (FPGA) In student laboratories, It Is now possible to
iotroduce basic concepts of parallel structures, sucb as
tbose used in speelal purpose blgb performance graphics
processing or digital signal processing, wltbout confronting
tbe complex communication and syncbronizatlon issues
associated with arrays of processors. An introductory
arcbltecture course bas been modified to loelude concepts
of parallel structures as well as traditional ISAs. Tbe same
FPGAs tbat can be used to create a simple processor witb a
basic instruction set can also be used to Implement simple
structures for parallel computation. Altbough tbe design
metbodology and performance evaluations for these
parallel designs are not as mature as tbe traditional ISA
based deSign, it is still possible to introduce perspectives of
parallel design in the Introductory course. Tbis paper
describes tbe course and some of the laboratory
experience.