GIFT - An integrated development and training system for finite state machine based approaches

Abstract

At the Ilmenau University of Technology’s “Integrated Communication Systems” Department a main teaching concept deals with the design of digital control systems. Different lectures from the 1 st to the 8 th semester are using Finite State Machines (FSM) as a specification technique to realize different design tasks. During undergraduate studies the basics of Finite State Machines and their usage within the design of digital control systems are taught. To conceptualize more complex digital systems, as required in higher courses, it is necessary to use powerful toolsets. One example of such a toolset is the GIFT (Graphical Interactive Finite State Machine Toolset) system, developed by the Integrated Communications System Group at the Ilmenau University of Technology. With this toolset we want to extent our remote lab GOLDi and implement new techniques for a web-based development system for Finite State Machines.