CPEG 448: Introduction to VLSI Design

Fall 2014
2013 Catalog Data:
CPEG 448 - Design and implementation of very large scale integrated circuits. CMOS and BiCMOS
technologies, basic topological structure of ICs. Clocking characteristics, resistance, capacitance and
power estimation, system level design and implementation issues. Custom layout and verification
using CAD tools. Synthesis of designs from VHDL descriptions. Term project will include the design
and testing of a custom integrated circuit.
3 lecture hours, 3 semester hours.
Prerequisites: CPEG 315 and EE 348
Textbook:

CMOS VLSI Design: A Circuits and Systems Perspective, by Neil H E Weste, David
Harris; Addison-Wesley, 4th Edition, 2010

Course Learning Outcomes:

Having successfully completed this course, the student should be able to:
Students will be able to design a complete digital VLSI chip ranging from its
digital design to its simulations, and CMOS layout.
Students will be able to design CMOS digital circuits and optimize their layout for
less delay.
Students will be able to design and simulate complex digital designs in VHDL and
Verilog.
Students will be able to estimate the resistance, capacitances in VLSI circuits so
that they can optimize delays, and power consumption.
Students will be able to design, layout, simulate and verify actual VLSI circuits
using modern tools such as Mentor Graphics.
Students will demonstrate Engineering design skills.
Students will exercise written communication skills in terms of technical writing.
Students will be able to function competently in a related entry-level career.
Topics (by week):
o Review of Digital VLSI Circuit Design technologies

(1 Week)

RTL, DTL, TTL, ECL, NMOS, PMOS, CMOS,

and BiCMOS technologies.

Digital Gate structures in different technologies,

Comparison of different digital circuit technologies based on
Noise margins, fanouts, power consumption, rise/fall delays.
Identifying characteristics of an ideal digital circuit technology.
MOS transistor theory
MOS transistor fundamentals
PMOS and NMOS technologies

(1 Week)

Designing gates and PLAs in NMOS technology.

CMOS technology

(1 Week)

Pseudo NMOS technology

CMOS inverter I/O characteristics, noise margins, fanouts
NAND, NOR and logic expressions in CMOS
Multiplexers, decoders, latches
and Master-Slave flip flops in CMOS
CMOS Fabrication technology

(1 Week)

N-Well, P-Well and Twin-tub processes

Layout design rules in CMOS
Layout of simple gates, yield calculations,
Prevention against latchup in CMOS.
System Design in CMOS technology

(2 Weeks)

Layout of adders and flip-flops

Layout of a digital system, determining pitch, routing
power lines and busses using metal1, metal2.
Design, simulation and layout of complex digital VLSI
Circuits.
o

Circuit Characterization and Performance Estimation

(3 Weeks)

Resistance estimation
MOS transistor capacitance and routing capacitance
Distributed RC effects, wire length design guide
Inductance calculations, delay estimation (rise and
Fall delays)
Gate delays and body effect minimization
CMOS buffer design to optimize delay
Power consumption estimation, sizing conductors
Charge sharing, scaling of MOS transistor dimensions
Complementary CMOS, PseudoNMOS, Clocked CMOS,
CVSL, BiCMOS and Dynamic CMOS
Layout of CMOS circuits using Mentor Graphics

(2 Weeks)

CMOS Layout of digital gates and systems

Layout verification using DRC and LVS
SPICE and VHDL simulations using Mentor Graphics

(2 Week)

Discussion of example chip design projects

(1 Week)

Examples of digital VLSI projects, their circuit design,

floorplan design, VHDL/Verilog simulations and
chip layout.
10. CMOS Testing

(if time permits)

Class/Laboratory Schedule:
Lectures:
2 sessions per week with duration of 1hr 15min each
Lab Sessions: Laboratory work is an integral part of this course. Several laboratory assignments
emphasize the practical aspects of the course. Laboratory projects are implemented using
Mentor Graphics VLSI design software where students do the actual layout and
simulation of the digital VLSI designs. Written reports (using a word processor) are

required for all labs. There is a required final project where a complete design of
medium complexity digital VLSI circuit ranging from simulation to complete chip layout
is required.
Lab Schedule:
Week
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15

Topic
VHDL Part 1 and Assignment 1
VHDL Part 2 and Assignment 2
Assignment 3
Assignment 4
Verilog Part 1 and Assignment 5
Verilog Part 2 and Assignment 6
Mentor Graphics Part 1 and Assignment 7
Mentor Graphics Part 2 and Assignment 8
Assignment 9
Assignment 10
Project
Project
Project
Project
Project

Contribution to ABET Criterion 5 Requirements:

Engineering Topics 3 credits
Relationship to Program Outcomes:
The course objectives help in contributing towards the following program outcomes at a beginners level:
Program Outcome 4 Techniques/Skills:
Larger projects such as chip design and FPGA
implementations with simulation and verification tools
Program Outcome 10 Diversity/LLL:
B/D continuum is used to collect incidental/anecdotal
data from representative sample of courses
Prepared by : Dr. Ausif Mahmood Date:

June 20, 2014

Credit Hour: As a UB policy it is expected that each student that attends one hour of classroom
instruction will require a minimum of two hours of out of class student work each week for approximately
fifteen weeks for one semester.