An integrated communications, digital signal processing (DSP) and very large scale integration (VLSI) laboratory

The hallmark of the Rowan College of Engineering undergraduate program is to provide effective laboratory based instruction that illustrates important scientific concepts. This paper presents the results of an effort by the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Rowan University to configure a novel method of teaching the junior level Communications (COMM), Digital Signal Processing (DSP) and Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) courses under a common laboratory framework. These three courses are taken concurrently during the spring semester of the junior year. Twelve interdisciplinary experiments that cut across individual course boundaries and that integrate hands-on experience and software simulation are proposed. The first four experiments deal with the very basic concepts. The next four experiments expose the students to multimedia standards approved by industry. The last four experiments deal with various applications that link COMM, DSP and VLSI. Software is integrated with the experiments through MATLAB and SIMULINK, C/C++ and Mentor Graphics.