Calendar

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