Introduction to Chip Design

• Explain the basics operation of semiconductor devices, including transistors, and apply this knowledge to design basic digital circuits.
• Use open-source design tools (OpenLane2, Tiny Tapeout, Chisel) to develop and simulate a digital circuit through a complete design flow.
• Experience the full chip design process, including RTL synthesis, place-and-route, timing closure, and a virtual tapeout, with an opportunity for real tapeout.
• Apply the principles of System-on-Chip (SoC) design, including interconnects, to develop a basic SoC and to evaluate multicore SoC architectures
• Implement hardware verification techniques, including simulation-based verification and testbench design, to validate a simple SoC.
• Analyze different memory architectures, including register files and memory macros, and design simple memory subsystems.
• Demonstrate an understanding of ASIC design and process design kits (PDKs) by applying standard-cell-based design principles.
• Gain practical experience in the design, simulation, and implementation of a simple SoC, and experience a virtual tapeout process.
• Develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills through the design and analysis of medium complexity digital systems.

• Fundamentals of digital circuit design (transistors, logic gates, combinational and sequential circuits).
• Introduction to ASIC design and PDK concepts.
• Memory design (types, organization, register files, and memory macros in open-source PDKs).
• System-on-Chip (SoC) design (partitioning, floorplanning, interconnects, and networks-on-chip).
• Verification methodologies and continuous integration.
• Open-source tools and design flows (OpenLane2, Tiny Tapeout, Chisel).
• RTL synthesis, place-and-route, timing closure, and GDSII generation.
• Tapeout process (virtual tapeout with SkyWater PDK, real tapeout with Tiny Tapeout).
• Team-based final project (SoC design and implementation using open-source tools).

• 6 – 20 (Wed 13-17)

02139/02132/02135, Basic skills in programming and digital electronics including some knowledge of a hardware description language.

Lectures, group work, and homework. Mandatory final project.