Design and construction of an 8-bit computer, along with the design of its graphical simulator for pedagogical purposes

In an introductory course of computer architecture, it is of high value that students use a simple and special CPU designed for this purpose and also its graphical simulator for better understanding of the computer hardware operation. In this paper, we present Abu-Reiahn, a simple 8-bit processor which we have specifically designed and built as the introduction part of computer architecture course to help students familiarize with hardware and software of a real CPU. Effective use of our computer graphical simulator along with the hardware allow the students to deepen their knowledge of logic circuits and the need for desired timing signals in a CPU to perform specific tasks.