Lecturer: Guido Torelli  

Course name: Digital circuit design
Course code: 502953
Degree course: Ingegneria Elettronica
Disciplinary field of science: ING-INF/01
University credits: CFU 6
Course website: n.d.

Specific course objectives

The main objective of the course is to provide the student with the basics of circuit design for combinational and sequential logic in CMOS technology and the operating principles of semiconductor memories. Theoretical lessons will be followed by laboratory sessions, during which the student will use SPICE-based computer simulation to analyze basic digital circuit blocks. At the end of the course, the student is expected to be able to design and analyze basic digital circuit blocks and architectural solutions in CMOS technology as well as to evaluate their performance.

Course programme

Logic gates in CMOS technology
Review of the MOS transistor. Review of the inverter and combinational logic gates in CMOS technology. Transistor sizing of CMOS logic gates. Evaluation of rise time, fall time, and delay time of CMOS logic gates.

Circuit performance estimation
Parasitic electrical parameter estimation (resistance, capacitance, inductance). Distributed RC effects of interconnect lines. Ring oscillator. Speed performance analysis of logic gates. Buffered structure for heavy capacitive loads. Power consumption estimation. Power consumption reduction techniques. Design margins. Sizing of interconnect lines. Pass transistor logic. Shrinking and technology scaling down.

Circuit design in CMOS technology
Design strategy for combinational logic. Dynamic CMOS logic; precharge logic; Domino logic; clocked CMOS logic. Clocked sequential systems. Review of basic static memory elements (latch, flip-flop). Single-phase and two-phase timing. Dynamic memory elements. Synchronous systems. Pipeline architecture. Clock distribution in integrated circuits. Clock skew in synchronous systems. Remarks on low-power digital circuit design.

Semiconductor memories
Introduction to semiconductor memories. Memory types. Organization of a memory. Row and column address circuits. Review of volatile memories (static RAM, dynamic RAM). Non volatile memories: ROM, Flash memories; new-generation non volatile memories: phase change memories. Content addressable memories (CAMs). Charge pump based integrated voltage elevators.

Course entry requirements

Fundamentals of Logic Circuits and Computer Architecture, Basics of Electrical Engineering, Electronics, Basics of Digital Electronics, Basics of CMOS Logic Gates and Integrated Circuit Technology.

Course structure and teaching

Lectures (hours/year in lecture theatre): 30
Practical class (hours/year in lecture theatre): 22
Practicals / Workshops (hours/year in lecture theatre): 12

Suggested reading materials

N. H. E. Weste, K. Eshraghian. Principles of CMOS VLSI Design. A System Perspective. 2nd edition. Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Reading, MA, USA, 1994.

J. M. Rabaey, A. Chandrakasan, B. Nikolic. Digital Integrated Circuits: A Design Perspective. 2nd Edition. Pearson Education, Inc. (Prentice Hall), Upper Saddle River, NJ, USA, 2003.

S.-M. Kang, Y. Leblebici. CMOS Digital Integrated Circuits: Analysis and Design. The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., New York, NY, USA, 1996. For more details on CMOS digital integrated circuit design.

Testing and exams

Written examination and oral examination. Relative weight: written examination 1/2, oral examination 1/2.