Computer Science 250: VLSI Systems Design

Fall 2011

Prof. John Wawrzynek

Prof. Krste Asanović

Dr. John Lazzaro

Lectures: Monday and Wednesday, 1PM-2:30PM, 320 Soda
Section: Thursday, 5:00PM-6:00PM, 320 Soda

Welcome to the Fall 2011 CS250 web page. More details to follow.


Detailed course info.
Handouts for CS250.
How to setup your computing account for the labs

Course Calendar with Handouts

Subject to Change.

Week Date Instr Lecture Assignments
1 Mon Aug 29 JW Lecture 1: Course Introduction: History of VLSI in computer science. Early design representations and CAD, sIlicon foundry model, multi-project chips. Overview of course structure and student requirements. Lecture slides. Lab 1b out
Wed Aug 31 JW Lecture 2: VLSI Introduction. Chip-level alternatives: ASIC, FPGAs, full-custom, gate-array, via-programmable. IC Fabrication. RTL and other design representations. Quick tool flow overview. Lecture slides.  
Thur Sep 1 BZ Discussion 1: Computer Setup & Lab 1 Introduction Discussion slides.  
2 Mon Sep 5   Labor Day  
Wed Sep 7 JW Lecture 3: Introduction to Chisel hardware description language. Lecture slides.  
Thur Sep 8 BZ Discussion 2: Python, Git, Unix, Makefiles Discussion slides.  
3 Mon Sep 12 JW Lecture 4: Chisel Part II. Lecture slides. Lab 1 due (before class)
Wed Sep 14 JW Lecture 5: Physical Realities. Part I: Area & Timing. Circuit and wire-delay modeling. Circuit-level timing closure. Static timing tools. Lecture slides.  
Thur Sep 15 BZ Discussion 3: Lab 1 Review, Chisel, Lab 2 Introduction  
4 Mon Sep 19 JL Lecture 6: Physical Realities, Part II: Energy and power. Power consumption mechanisms. Power modeling and power-aware design overview. Power analysis tools. Power grid tools. Lecture slides. Lab 2 out
Wed Sep 21 KA Lecture 7: Project details. Lecture slides.  
Thu Sep 22 BZ Discussion 4: Debugging, ALUs Section slides.  
5 Mon Sep 26 KA Lecture 8: Overview of hardware design patterns. Lecture slides.  
Wed Sep 28 KA Lecture 9: Memory and Memory Design Patterns. Lecture slides.  
Thur Sep 29 BZ Discussion 5: Lab 2 Review, Lab 3 Introduction, Pipeline Hazards, Setup/Hold Times  
6 Mon Oct 3 KA Lecture 10: Patterns for processing units and communication links. Lecture slides. Lab 2 due (before class)
Lab 3 out
Wed Oct 5 KA Lecture 11: Rocket microarchitecture. Design verification strategies. Lecture slides.  
Thur Oct 6 BZ Discussion 6: Memories and Matlab Discussion slides.  
7 Mon Oct 10 JL Lecture 12: System Context: I/O signaling, Off-chip DRAM. Lecture slides. Project Proposal due (before class)
Wed Oct 12 All Initial project proposal presentations.  
Thur Oct 13 BZ Discussion 7: IC Compiler, Technology Kits, Real World Issues Discussion slides.  
8 Mon Oct 17 All Private project meetings with groups.  
Wed Oct 19 All Private project meetings with groups.  
Thu Oct 20 BZ Discussion 8: Lab 3 Review, Group Project Details, Introduction to Rocket  
9 Mon Oct 24 All Private project meetings with groups. Lab 3 due (before class)
Wed Oct 26 All Private project meetings with groups.  
Thu Oct 27 BZ Office hours  
10 Mon Oct 31 All Public project progress presentations.  
Wed Nov 2 All Public project progress presentations.  
Thu Nov 3 BZ Office hours  
11 Mon Nov 7 All Private project meetings with groups.  
Wed Nov 9 All Private project meetings with groups.  
Thu Nov 10 BZ Office hours  
12 Mon Nov 14 All Public project progress presentations.  
Wed Nov 16 All Public project progress presentations.  
Thu Nov 17 BZ Office hours  
13 Mon Nov 21 All Private project meetings with groups.  
Wed Nov 23 All Private project meetings with groups.  
Thur Nov 24   Thanksgiving  
14 Mon Nov 28 All Private project meetings with groups.  
Wed Nov 30 All Private project meetings with groups.  
15 Mon Dec 5 All Final Project Presentations  
Wed Dec 7 All Final Project Presentations  
16 Mon Dec 12 All Final Project Reports Due 6AM (No Extensions)