Lecture Notes and Tutorial Problem Sets
Week 1 (1/27)
Handout 1. Introduction to VLSI systems (pdf); Handout 2. Basics of information and information processing (pdf)
Reading Assignments: Cramming more components onto integrated circuits (G. Moore 1965), Science in an Exponential World (Szalay and Gray 2006). A good introduction to the course can also be found in Sicard/Delmas-Bendhia Chapter 1, Sections 1.1 to 1.7 (pdf).
Tutorial problems: Problem set 1 (pdf) and solutions 1 (pdf)
Week 2 (2/3)
Handout 3. CMOS fabrication and MOS transistors layout (video will be shown in class) (pdf)
Reading assignment: The basic structure and layout of MOS transistors is discused in Sicard/Delmas-Bendhia Chapter 2, Sections 2.1-2.7 (pdf). Ignore the discussion on the layout tool because in this course we will be using the Cadence CAD tools.
Tutorial problems: Problem set 2 (pdf) and solutions 2 (pdf)
Week 3 (2/10)
Handout 4. The digital abstraction (pdf)
Reading assignment: Chapter 1 and 2 from Philippe Pouliquen's writeup (pdf).
Week 4 (2/17, Quiz 1: Tutorial set 1 and 2)
Handout 5. MOS transistor models (pdf)
Reading assignment: There is an elaborate discussion of MOS transistor models in Sicard/Delmas-Bendhia Chapter 3. Please just read sections 3.1-3.2 (pdf).
Week 5 (2/24)
Handout 6. MOS transistor logic gates, CMOS combinational circuits (pdf).
Reading assignment: Sections 6.1-6.4 in Chapter 6 in Sicard/Delmas-Bendhia (pdf). Sections 7.1-7.4 in Chapter 7 of Sicard/Delmas-Bendhia (pdf). Chapter 3 and 4 from Philippe Pouliquen's writeup (pdf).
Tutorial problems: Problem set 3 (pdf) and solutions 3 (pdf)
Week 6 (3/3)
Handout 7. Delay and energy in CMOS circuits (pdf)
Reading assignment: Sections 4.4, 4.5, 4.6 in Chapter 4 in Sicard/Delmas-Bendhia (pdf). Chapter 9 from Philippe Pouliquen's writeup (pdf). Chapter 5, Sections 5.1, 5.2, and 5.5 on interconnect modeling (pdf).
Tutorial problems: Problem set 4 (pdf) and solutions 4 (pdf)
Week 7 (3/10, Quiz 2: Tutorial set 3)
Handout 8. Project Discussion, Brain-like information processing (pdf)
Spring Break
Week 8 (3/24, Quiz 3: Tutorial set 4)
Handout 9. Sequential logic structures (pdf) Finite state machines and metastability (pdf)
Reading assignment:Ward and Halstead Chapter 4, Sequences and State, sections 4.1 to 4.7 (pdf). The basis of sequential logic circuits is also briefly discussed in Sicard/Delmas-Bendhia Chapter 8, sections 8.1 to 8.4; application of sequential logic in counters and dividers in Sicard/Delmas-Bendhia Chapter 8, Section 8.5 to 8.7 (pdf). Chapter 6 from Philippe Pouliquen's writeup (pdf).
Week 9 (3/31)
Handout 10. Memory arrays, static random access memory, dynamic random access memory (pdf)
Reading assignment: Chapter 10 in Sicard/Delmas-Bendhia (pdf)
Week 10 (4/7)
Handout 11. Memory hierarchy in computer systems (pdf)
Week 11 (4/14)
Handout 12. Parallel computational structures and Amdahl's law (pdf)
Week 12 (4/21)
Project discussion
Week 13 (4/28)
Project discussion