227-0147-00L VLSI II: Design of Very Large Scale Integration Circuits
| Semester | Spring Semester 2018 |
| Lecturers | F. K. Gürkaynak, L. Benini |
| Periodicity | yearly recurring course |
| Language of instruction | English |
Courses
| Number | Title | Hours | Lecturers | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 227-0147-00 G | VLSI II: Design of Very Large Scale Integration Circuits Vorlesung: Di 13-15 Übungen: Mi 9-12 | 5 hrs |
| F. K. Gürkaynak, L. Benini |
Catalogue data
| Abstract | This second course in our VLSI series is concerned with how to turn digital circuit netlists into safe, testable and manufacturable mask layout, taking into account various parasitic effects. Low-power circuit design is another important topic. Economic aspects and management issues of VLSI projects round off the course. |
| Objective | Know how to design digital VLSI circuits that are safe, testable, durable, and make economic sense. |
| Content | The second course begins with a thorough discussion of various technical aspects at the circuit and layout level before moving on to economic issues of VLSI. Topics include: - The difficulties of finding fabrication defects in large VLSI chips. - How to make integrated circuit testable (design for test). - Synchronous clocking disciplines compared, clock skew, clock distribution, input/output timing. - Synchronization and metastability. - CMOS transistor-level circuits of gates, flip-flops and random access memories. - Sinks of energy in CMOS circuits. - Power estimation and low-power design. - Current research in low-energy computing. - Layout parasitics, interconnect delay, static timing analysis. - Switching currents, ground bounce, IR-drop, power distribution. - Floorplanning, chip assembly, packaging. - Layout design at the mask level, physical design verification. - Electromigration, electrostatic discharge, and latch-up. - Models of industrial cooperation in microelectronics. - The caveats of virtual components. - The cost structures of ASIC development and manufacturing. - Market requirements, decision criteria, and case studies. - Yield models. - Avenues to low-volume fabrication. - Marketing considerations and case studies. - Management of VLSI projects. Exercises are concerned with back-end design (floorplanning, placement, routing, clock and power distribution, layout verification). Industrial CAD tools are being used. |
| Lecture notes | H. Kaeslin: "Top-Down Digital VLSI Design, from Gate-Level Circuits to CMOS Fabrication", Lecture Notes Vol.2 , 2015. All written documents in English. |
| Literature | H. Kaeslin: "Top-Down Digital VLSI Design, from Architectures to Gate-Level Circuits and FPGAs", Elsevier, 2014, ISBN 9780128007303. |
| Prerequisites / Notice | Highlight: Students are offered the opportunity to design a circuit of their own which then gets actually fabricated as a microchip! Students who elect to participate in this program register for a term project at the Integrated Systems Laboratory in parallel to attending the VLSI II course. Prerequisites: "VLSI I: from Architectures to Very Large Scale Integration Circuits and FPGAs" or equivalent knowledge. Further details: https://vlsi2.ethz.ch |
Performance assessment
| Performance assessment information (valid until the course unit is held again) | |
Performance assessment as a semester course | |
| ECTS credits | 6 credits |
| Examiners | F. K. Gürkaynak, L. Benini |
| Type | session examination |
| Language of examination | English |
| Repetition | The performance assessment is offered every session. Repetition possible without re-enrolling for the course unit. |
| Mode of examination | oral 30 minutes |
| Additional information on mode of examination | For examinations, we accept German and English as language. |
| This information can be updated until the beginning of the semester; information on the examination timetable is binding. | |
Learning materials
| Main link | Information |
| Only public learning materials are listed. | |
Groups
| No information on groups available. |
Restrictions
| There are no additional restrictions for the registration. |
