MiniMIPS

We developed the project presented in this paper for an undergraduate computer architecture course specifically aimed at non-engineering students. The project is designed to develop understanding of processor organisation at the functional unit level by building a series software execution driven simulators, from a single cycle sequential processor to a simple pipelined processor. The students are lead through the functional design process step by step, in a succession of carefully structured tasks. The project starts by building functional units of a processor. These units are then used to construct a single cycle processor, a multi cycle processor, and finally a pipelined processor with data hazard detection and forwarding. The main goal of the project is to give students a true insight into the fundamental ideas, which are the basis of the development of the modern microprocessor.