UCO.MIPSIM: pipelined computer simulator for teaching purposes

Abstract

Since pipelining is a very important implementation technique for processors, students in Computer Science need to achieve a good understanding of it. UCO.MIPSIM simulator has been developed to support teaching such concepts. This paper introduces the basics of pipelining and describes UCO.MIPSIM, its main components and its functions. The learning effectiveness of the simulator has been tested by means of the comparison with two learning tools, the traditional paper and pencil and another pipelined computer simulator. In this way, a tool evaluation methodology is also introduced