Requirement Analysis and Didactic Evaluation of a Collaborative Remote Laboratory for FPGAs

Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) have received significant attention in academic and industrial research due to their reconfigurability, power efficiency, and ability for real-time high-performance computation. The growing demand for FPGA-based systems across various applications has necessitated the development of robust design and verification platforms to support academic and research objectives. In pursuit of this long-term goal, numerous FPGA-based remote laboratory platforms have been proposed, emphasizing didactic needs. However, more attention must be paid to requirement analysis and evaluation criteria specific to FPGA-based remote laboratory platforms. This paper addresses this gap by investigating state-of-the-art remote laboratory platforms alongside a comprehensive requirement analysis. A didactic evaluation has been conducted to assess qualitative and quantitative data to effectively align requirements with outcomes, providing insights into students' perceptions of the platform and its efficacy in meeting learning objectives. Furthermore, the evaluation highlights students' engagement with laboratory tasks across different time intervals throughout the day. However, this requirement analysis and evaluation serve as a foundation for effectively designing an efficient FPGA design and verification platform, fostering enhanced learning experiences in remote laboratory settings.