Programmable system-on-chip (PSoC) usage in embedded programming courses

Part of the requirements for an Electrical and Computer Engineering Technology (ECET) program includes the ability for students to design and implement embedded systems in a variety of courses. Typical courses can include C programming, microcontrollers, instrumentation and measurement systems, wireless communications systems, networking, and control systems, and they can be lower-division and/or upper-division courses. Lab content within these courses provides students with hands-on projects which are intended to support the lecture material. The intent of this paper is to demonstrate that an inexpensive Programmable System-On-Chip embedded board (PSoC 5LP) can be used as a basis for many lab projects within a wireless communications systems course. The software development environment for the PSoC provides the flexibility to program in C as well as to use the schematic entry capability. The goal of this paper is to introduce a series of labs that can be used within this course. Possible topics for lab projects include: analog-to-digital conversion, digital-to-analog conversion, sensor data collection, timers, serial communication, serial peripheral interface (SPI) protocol, inter-integrated circuit (I²C) protocol, on-off keying (OOK) modulation, RF transceiver (e.g., ZigBee, Bluetooth, WiFi) interfacing, and remote control. For lab projects, documentation (e.g., engineering requirements, schematics, PSoC device configurations, and 'C' code) is provided. Additionally, a summary and assessment are provided.