EL 6443 VLSI System and Architecture Design

Description:

A continuation of EL 5473, this course covers top-down VLSI design using VHDL including structural design, modeling, algorithmic and register level design, synthesis, prototyping and implementation using FPGAs, and methods to design for test (DFT). This course provides students with a solid background and hands-on experiences with the CMOS VLSI design process where custom design techniques (covered in EL 5473) are married with HDL synthesis to produce complex systems. As part of the course requirements, students will complete a project covering design partitioning, placement and routing, automated synthesis, and standard cell design and use. The course will explore how these techniques are used in the design of ASICs, System--on--Chips (SoC), and advanced microprocessors.