Design and Implementation of VLSI Systems(EN1600)lecture01

• Introduction• Brief Tour of VLSI Design and Implementation• Class logistics

Lecture 01: the big picture

Objectives of the class

• A VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration) system integrates millions of “electronic components” in a small area (few mm2 few cm2).

• Class objective: Learn how to design “efficient” VLSI systems that implement required functionalities.

• What are the design metrics?

• Circuit Speed / Performance• Power consumption• Design Area• Yield

What are VLSI systems composed of?

pMOS

nMOS

1.Transistors

CMOS logic gates

+

2. Wires

=

Circuits

design

How does an IC look like from the inside?

transistors

wires

R. Noyce J. Kilby

Technology scaling

Moore’s Law. The number of transistors in an integrated circuit doubles every 2 years.

Quad core from Intel:

~600 million transistors in

286 mm2

If a pond lily doubles everyday and it takes 30 days to completely cover a pond, on what day will the pond be 1/2 covered?

Feature sizes

Human Hair

~75 m

0.18 m180 nmfeature

.

.

~40,000 (65-nm node) transistors could fit on cross-section

[C. Keast]

Why should you learn about VLSI systems?

• They are ubiquitous in our daily lives (computers/iPods/TVs/Cars/…/etc). EN160 can help you understand the devices you use.

• The market for VLSI systems (and semiconductors) is worth $250 billion dollars. EN160 can help you get a decent job after graduation (or you

can even start your own company).

• VLSI design and analysis is fun!

Biggest semiconductor companies

• Introduction• Brief Tour of VLSI Design and Implementation• Class logistics

Lecture 01: the big picture

What does it take to design VLSI systems? Same engineering principles you learned so far

2. write specifications

1. idea (need)

3. design system 4. analyze/

modelsystem

if sa

tisfa

ctor

y

5. Fabrication

6. test / work as modeled?

1. Applications / Ideas

2. Specifications

• Instruction set

• Interface (I/O pins)

• Organization of the system

• Functionality of each unit in the and how it to communicate to other unit

3/4. Design and Analysis

• Design development is facilitated using Computer-Aided Design (CAD) tools

compilation/synthesis

VHDL / Verilog / SystemC

device layout find wire routesmask layout patterns

design schematics

5. Fabrication

tapeout

mask writer masks

wafer

printing

die

dice

mask layout patterns

test and packaging

chip

6. Evaluate design and compare to model.

board

• Does the chip function as it is supposed to be?

• Does it work at desired clock frequency? (can we overclock?)

• Check signal integrity• Power consumption• Input/output behavior

What are we going to cover in this class?

• Overview of VLSI CMOS fabrication• MOS transistor theory• VLSI Layout design• Circuit analysis and performance estimation • Computer-aided design and analysis tools• Combinational and sequential circuit design• Memory systems• Big, nice design project

Textbooks

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