NetPong is a simple game that was developed to teach digital design. The game is based upon the classic game of Pong. The oject is to keep a ball in the playing field by blocking it with your paddle. NetPong has expanded the original by alowing up to four player to play in a single game. Each player kit must be built using digital logic. The four players kits are connected via serial connections to a central hub (which the students also build). A computer is also attached to the central hub to add artifical players and to display the video for the game.

A digital design curriculum has been developed that is applicable to a wide range of teaching situations. The main focus is on the basic principles of digital design. Economy of effor it achieved by focusing on a songle goal that is built up over a number of labs. The chosen goal is a simple game called NetPong, which not only presents information on the basic digital design concepts, but also introduces information on networking and common interfaces.

The materials associtage with this curriculum include six lab manuals with associated prelabs, custom software, and sample solutions. This material is not intended to be a complete course, but it should be sufficient for someone knowledgeable about digital design to quickly put together an introductory course. The material is adaptable to a range of audiences and can easily by taylored for different audiences, from advanced high school students to junior level college classes. Furthermore, minimal equipment requirnments were chosen to allow programs with more moderate funding to be able to use this material.

Lab Manuals & Texts

Software

Solutions