Abstract

There are many Windows Multimedia plug-in cards available for a Personal Computer (PC), but they are not suitable for a laboratory teaching platform for several reasons. Firstly, their hardware and software details are not available because of the market driven need to keep all hardware and software details from competitors. Secondly, the cards are not designed to allow faults to be introduced. Thirdly there is the inherent requirement that Windows applications be uniform to the point where application software sees the same interface, irrespective o f which Windows compatible card is being used. These latter points are highly desirable from the user's point of view but not from a teaching viewpoint, where the goal is to enlighten the student in the hardware and software design techniques used to perform the stated objective. The Multimedia Teaching Platform consists of a sound card, Windows 3.1 application and a Windows standard mode device driver. The sound card can continuously play or record audio files to the PC's hard disc in an analogue or a digital format. The digital format conforms to the consumer digital formats, IEC-958 Consumer, S/PDIF and CP-340 Type 2. Programmable logic was used on the sound card to allow hardware faults to be easily introduced. Hardware faults can be introduced by replacing the memory device which programs the logic array. Software design faults can be introduced by providing faulty source code for the device drivers and for the user interface. By introducing both hardware and software design faults, students can gain valuable experience in software and hardware debugging techniques and in the Windows environment.