Thispaperdescribescurrentworkutilizingarapidprototypingapproachtosimulate,ynthesize,andimplementprototypedigitalsystemandcomputerarchitecturesusingPCswithstudentversionsofcommercialVHDLbasedCADtoolsandalowcostboardwithalargeCPLDorFPGA.VGAvideooutputgenera