PIPS: An Instruction Set Architecture for Teaching Computer Organization

CSC 211: Computer Organization and Architecture at Grinnell College introduces computer science students to the basics of digital circuits, logic design, and computer organization/architecture. This course is designed to help students develop a deeper understanding of how processors function, and how their design can impact the code they write. During the course, students build components like adders, multiplexors, ALUs, and registers with real circuits, and larger components in a digital logic simulator (Logisim). This progression culminates in a four-week lab sequence where students create an assembler and datapath for the PIPS Instruction Set Architecture, which we have designed specifically for this course. In this paper we describe the design and specific learning goals of the PIPS architecture, the four-week lab sequence where students implement a working PIPS assembler and datapath, and our experiences using this lab sequence for the past three years. All student starter materials and instructions for these labs are available at DOI:11084/10426, with solutions and grading infrastructure available to instructors upon request.