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Interactive 6811 Simulator for Microcontroller Software Interfacing

This paper presents a microcontroller hardware/software simulator which is used in a laboratory setting to educate undergraduate electrical engineering students. The specific objectives of the course include microcomputer architecture, assembly language programming, data structures, modular programming techniques, debugging strategies, hardware/software interfaces and embedded microcontroller applications. In this paper, I present both basic concepts and specific implementations which create an effective learning environment for my students. In particular, I wrote a DOS-based interactive simulator for the Motorola 6811. The application runs on a standard IBM-PC compatible with minimal requirements: Intel 386DX, 640K RAM, VGA color monitor, and 2 Megabytes of hard drive space. The student develops Motorola 6811 software which is cross-assembled and simulated. The major features of this interactive programming environment include user-configurable interactive external I/O devices, multiple display windows, extensive information available describing the activity both inside and outside the processor, elaborate protection against and explanation of programming errors, effective mechanisms for setting breakpoints, and user-defined “scan points” which allow the user program to interact with the graphics display.