Lecture Notes

The lecture notes for this course are closely based on the course textbook:

Rabaey, Jan, Anantha Chandrakasan, and Bora Nikolic. Digital Integrated Circuits: A Design Perspective. 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2002. ISBN: 0130909963.

Use the chapter numbers below to find the slides corresponding to the lecture topics, available on the textbook web site.

LEC # TOPICS CHAPTER #
1 Challenges in Digital IC Design

Course Overview

1
2 _CMOS Inverter I

_MOS Device Model with Sub-micron Effects
VTC Parameters - DC Characteristics

3, 5
3 CMOS Inverter II

CMOS Propagation Delay
Parasitic Capacitance Estimation
Layout of an Inverter
Supply and Threshold Voltage Scaling
SPICE Simulation Techniques

5
  Tutorial on Design Tools - Layout of a CMOS Gate, Extraction, SPICE, IRSIM  
4 CMOS Inverter III

Components of Energy and Power
Switching, Short-Circuit and Leakage Components
SPICE Simulation Techniques

5
5 Combinational Logic I

Static CMOS Construction
Ratioed Logic

6
6 Combinational Logic II

Pass Transistor / Transmission Gate Logic
DCVSL
Introduction to Dynamic Logic

6
7 Combinational Logic III

Dynamic Logic Design Considerations
Power Dissipation in CMOS

6
8 Combinational Logic IV

Power Consumption in CMOS Logic (cont.)
Leakage Power Dissipation
Logical Effort Sizing - Performance Optimization of Digital Circuits

6
9 Arithmetic Structures / Bit Slice Design

Adders, Multipliers, Shifters
Design Methodology
Layout Techniques and Mapping

Project Schedule and Guidelines

8, 11
10 Evening Session on Exploring Project Ideas

Finish Arithmetic Structures and Project Ideas

 
11 Guest Lecture by Prof. Tayo Akinwande

Integrated CMOS Processing

2
12 Sequential Circuits I

Classification / Parameters
Static Latches and Register

7
13 Sequential Circuits II

Race Condition
Dynamic Latches and Registers
Two Phase vs. Single Phase

7
  Quiz #1

Covers Inverter, Combinational Logic

 
14 Sequential Circuits: III

Pulse Based Registers
Latch vs. Register Systems
Metastability

7, 10
15 Interconnect

Capacitance Estimation
Buffer Chains
Low Swing Drivers
Power Distribution

4, 9
16 Interconnect (cont.)

Issues in Timing - Impact of Clock Skew and Jitter

9, 10
17 Clock Distribution

Origins of Clock Skew / Jitter and Impact on Performance
Clock Distribution Techniques
Self-timed Circuits

10
18 Memory I: ROM / EPROM / PLA Design

Organization / Architecture
Cell Design
Sense-amplifiers
PLA Folding Techniques
Self-timing

12
19 Memory II: SRAM Design

Cell Design
Differential Sense Amplifiers
Self-timing

 
20 Memory III

DRAM Design
Single Ended Sense Amplifier
CMOS Scaling

 
  Quiz #2

Covers Arithmetic Structures, Inter-connect, Sequential Circuits and Memory

 
21 Advanced Voltage Scaling Techniques

DC-DC Converter Design
Performance Feedback
Dynamic Voltage / Frequency Scaling

11
22 Power Reduction Through Switching Activity Reduction

Testing in VLSI

Defects, Fault Models, Path Sensitization
Scan, Built-in-self Test, IDDQ

 
  Presentation of Final Projects  
  Presentation of Final Projects (cont.)  

Course Info

As Taught In
Fall 2003
Level
Learning Resource Types
Problem Sets
Exams with Solutions
Projects