Future systems-on-a-chip: impact on engineering education

Deep-Submicron (DS) technology is rapidly leading to systems-on-a-chip (SoC) designed at the processor-memory level, and containing a lot of mixed-signal and even RF architectures. However, exploitation of DS technology will depend critically on the availability of global system engineers able to bridge the gap between software-centric system thinking and hardware-software implementation, in novel silicon architectures. This requires a rethinking of present engineering schools which are not well equipped to tackle global system engineering aspects. The concept of design institute is introduced where, based on visionary system design demonstrators, new methodologies, tools, libraries and courses are created and distributed over the global network. Design institutes provide a learning school for new design paradigms and form the ideal environment for the education of global system designers and system design minded faculty.