The first half of the class includes lectures on technology and scaling. In the second half of the course, students will work in small groups on large chip design projects with regular advisory meetings with the instructors.
The calendar below provides information on the course's lecture (L), tutorial (T), quiz (Q), and project (P) sessions. The last lecture or recitation is delivered midway through the course; after that date, class time is spent entirely on group projects.
| ses # | topics | key dates |
|---|---|---|
L1 |
Introduction |
|
L2 |
Digital Design Using Verilog |
Lab 1 assigned |
L3 |
CMOS Technology and Logic Gates |
|
T1 |
Verilog Simulation I |
|
L4 |
Wires |
|
L5 |
Synthesis |
|
T2 |
Verilog Simulation II |
|
L6 |
Clocking |
Lab 1 due |
L7 |
Bluespec I: Motivation |
Lab 2 assigned |
L8 |
Bluespec II: Designing with Rules |
|
L9 |
Bluespec III: Modules and Interfaces |
Lab 2 due |
L10 |
Bluespec IV: Rule Scheduling and Synthesis |
|
T3 |
Bluespec |
Lab 3 assigned |
L11 |
Power |
Hand out project choices |
L12 |
Bluespec V: Processors |
|
L13 |
Bluespec VI: Modularity and Performance |
Lab 3 due |
L14 |
Transaction Level Design and Verification |
|
L15 |
Testing |
|
Q1 |
Quiz |
Preliminary project proposals due |
P1 |
Team Discussion on Preliminary Proposals (Groups 2, 3, 4) |
|
P2 |
Team Discussion on Preliminary Proposals (Groups 1, 5, 6) |
Project proposals due 2 days after project session 2 |
P3 |
Team Discussion on UTL Design (Groups 2, 3, 6) |
|
P4 |
Team Discussion on UTL Design (Groups 1, 4, 5) |
High-level UTL architectural doc due 2 days after project session 4 |
P5 |
Team Discussion on Test Strategy (Groups 2, 3, 6) |
|
P6 |
Team Discussion on Test Strategy (Groups 1, 4, 5) |
Test strategy doc due 2 days after project session 6 Ref impl working with test harness and in CVS |
P7 |
Team Discussion on RTL (All Groups) |
Microarchitectural design doc due 2 days after project session 7 Initial RTL design working and in CVS |
P8 |
Team Discussion on Design Exploration (Groups 2, 3, 6) |
|
P9 |
Team Discussion on Design Exploration (Groups 1, 4, 5) |
Design exploration doc due 2 days after project session 9 Multiple alternative designs working and in CVS |
P10 |
Final Team Discussion (Groups 2, 3, 6) |
|
P11 |
Final Team Discussion (Groups 1, 4, 5) |
|
P12 |
Project Presentations (Groups 2, 3, 6) |
|
P13 |
Project Presentations (Groups 1, 4, 5) |
Final report due 2 days after project session 13 |