In 2025, we gave the option of DE10-Lite or DE1-SoC FPGA boards. A large majority of students chose the DE10-Lite, and it worked out very well. However, it was difficult to manage the need to test every lab on both boards, and to release golden solutions for both boards. (To make matters worse, there are actually multiple revisions of the DE1-SoC that needed to be tested, so it's not just adding one more board, it's adding testing and support for 4 different revisions of that.)
In 2026, we are using only the DE10-Lite because it is more than sufficient, only 1/3 of the cost, and streamlines all course support issues!
In 2026, we also added a few components to the electronics kit:
Course requirements can also be seen here: eng-services.ece.ubc.ca/course-support/2026-winter-term-1/cpen-211/
CPEN211 requires the purchase of an electronics kit and an FPGA board.
Why the FPGA board change? The board used in 2024 and earlier, DE1-SoC, is a more powerful but also much more expensive FPGA board. We don't need all of its features in CPEN211. Also, later courses in CPEN have reduced the need for a more powerful board: CPEN291 no longer exists, CPEN311 uses few DE1-SoC features, CPEN391 uses a different platform, and CPEN412 can adapt. However, the DE1-SoC is still an excellent choice for a hardcore computer engineer committed to learning about hardware. However, we will not be releasing golden reference solutions to any of the labs on the DE1-SoC.
You will be building your own RISC-V processor system on the DE10-Lite. There is no need for any additional purchase.
All students will need access to a powerful laptop or desktop computer. We recommend:
A computer with an x86-64 processor (Intel or AMD) running an up-to-date version of Windows is strongly recommended. Such computers are provided in the lab for you to use.
Although lab access is provided roughly 7am to 11pm every day, most students will want to use their own laptops/desktops to work on homework in advance of the scheduled lab period.
NOTE: The configurations below have been reported to work by advanced users. Be prepared to put in the effort -- we can't help you. No accommodation will be made or help will be given for using these alternative environments. They are listed roughly by increasing order of difficulty: