Fundamentals of VLSI design
EE-429
This file is part of the content downloaded from Fundamentals of VLSI design.
Important Information
PREREQUISITE:
- News forum (Course Announcements) (Forum)
- Q&A for Course Content and Assignments/Labs/Quiz (Forum)
- Basic Linux commands are requiredHere are some che... (Text and media area)
- Signature Required : statement on the utilization of EDA and Design Kits in EPFL (File)
- EDA in EPFL : legal considerations (File)
- sharing files between machines (File)
- Course OrganizationThe first session of the course... (Text and media area)
Week 1: September 8-12
- Thursday, 11.09. : Lecture Time: 15:15-18:00ON-SIT... (Text and media area)
- Slides: Organization and Syllabus (2025) (File)
- Slides: Introduction to Digital VLSI (2025) (File)
- Recording: Introduction to VLSI: a quick tour (2020) (URL)
- Recording: How we design chips - The Digital VLSI Design Flow (Overview) (2020) (URL)
- Friday, 12.09. : Lecture Time: 11:15-14:00ON-SITE:... (Text and media area)
- Slides: Analysis and Characteristics of the CMOS Inverter (File)
Week 2: September 15-19
- Thursday, 18.09. : Lab Full Custom 1Time: 15:15-18... (Text and media area)
- Full Custom Lab1 - schematic (File)
- Full Custom Labs - intro (File)
- Friday, 19.09. : Lecture Time: 11:15-14:00ON-SITE:... (Text and media area)
- Slides: CMOS Power Consumption (File)
- Slides: CMOS Complex Logic Gates (File)
- Slides: A look at Some Other Logic Styles (not presented) (File)
- Slides: Simulation (File)
- Recording: Complex CMOS Logic Gates (2020) Warning does not contain all Lecture content (URL)
Week 3: September 22-26
- Thursday, 25.09. : Short Lecture & Lab Full Custom... (Text and media area)
- Slides: Corners, Variations, and Mismatch (File)
- Full Cutom Lab 2 - Testbenches, Simulation, Corners (File)
- Friday, 26.09. : Lab Full Custom 2 (Cont.)Time: 11... (Text and media area)
Week 4: September 30th - October 4th
- Thursday, 3.10. : Lecture Time: 15:15-18:00ON-SITE... (Text and media area)
- Slides: Other (Non-CMOS) Logic Styles (File)
- Slides: Sequential Elements (Latches and FlipFlops) (File)
- RECORDING (2020): Sequential Elements (Latches & FlipFlops) (URL)
- Friday, 4.10. : LectureTime: 11:15-14:00ON-SITE: E... (Text and media area)
- Slides: Interconnect / Wires (File)
- Recording (2020): Interconnect / Wires (URL)
- Slides: Layout (File)
Week 5: October 6-10
- Thursday, 09.10. : Short Lecture (Layout cont.) + ... (Text and media area)
- Lab full custom 3 - layout and verification (File)
- Friday, 10.10. : lab full custom 3 - cont.Time: 11... (Text and media area)
- some guidelines for via design (File)
Week 6: October 14-18
- Thursday, 16.10. : Project on Full Custom Digital ... (Text and media area)
- Friday, 17.10. : Project on Full Custom Digital De... (Text and media area)
- FCProject schematic and simulation (File)
- FCProject layout, verification, deliverables (File)
- FCProject automated testbench (File)
- project presentation (File)
Holiday
Week 7: October 27 - 31
- Thursday, 30.10. : Lecture on MemoriesTime: 15:15-... (Text and media area)
- Slides: Memories (SRAM, DRAM, Gain Cell) (File)
- Recording: CMOS memories (SRAM) - Part 1a (Macro Architecture) (URL)
- Recording: CMOS memories (SRAM) - Part 1b (Bit-Cell) (URL)
- Recording: CMOS memories (SRAM) - Part 2 (Peripherals and Noise Margin) (URL)
- Friday, 31.10. : Full Custom Project session 3 Tim... (Text and media area)
Week 8: November 3-7
- Thursday, 06.11. : Lecture (Logical Effort)Time: 1... (Text and media area)
- Slides: Logical Effort Analysis and Design Methodology (File)
- Friday, 7.11. : Full Custom Project session 4Time:... (Text and media area)
- project deliverable template PPTX (File)
Week 9: November 11-15
- Thursday, 16.11. : Lecture Semi-custom + Exercise ... (Text and media area)
- Slides: DRAM and GCRAM (embedded DRAM) (File)
- Slides: Semi-Custom Design: Introduction and Libraries (updated 2024) (File)
- LogicalEffortCalculator (File)
- Logical Effort exercise, application on memory decoder (File)
- LogicalEffortCalculator Solution (File)
- Friday, 17.11. : Lab on Memory and Logical EffortT... (Text and media area)
- Lab Memory and Logical Effort (File)
Week 10: November 18-22
- Thursday, 20.11. : Lecture Time: 15:15-18:00 ON-SI... (Text and media area)
- Slides Functional Verification (File)
- Slides Synthesis and Timing Abstraction (updated after video) (File)
- Recording 2020: Semi-Custom Design (Synthesis) (URL)
- Friday, 21.11.: SemiCustom Labs- Front End session... (Text and media area)
- Design Compiler - User Guide (File)
- Design Compiler - Tool Commands (File)
- Design Compiler - tool invocation commands (File)
- cp65npky1p11sadsl512 SRAM documentation - DO NOT PRINT, DO NOT SHARE (File)
- cp65npky1p11asdrl32ks REG documentation - DO NOT PRINT DO NOT SHARE (File)
- SEMICUSTOM intro slides (File)
- Digital Design Labs - Preamble (File)
- Digital Design Labs - Front End Tutorial (File)
Week 11: November 24-28
- Thursday, 27.11. : SClabs Front End Session 2 Time... (Text and media area)
- HD standard cells documentation SVT (File)
- HS standard cells documentation SVT (File)
- Digital Design Labs - Front End Project (File)
- Friday, 28.11. : SClabs Front End Session 3 Time: ... (Text and media area)
Week 12: December 1-5
- Thursday, 04.12. : Lecture Time: 15:15-18:00ON-SIT... (Text and media area)
- Slides: Semi-Custom Backend Design (Layout / Clock Distribution) (File)
- Recording (2022 outdated): Semi-Custom Design (Backend / Layout / Clock Distribution) (URL)
- Friday, 05.12. : SClabs Front End Session 4 + Back... (Text and media area)
- Digital Design Labs - Back End Tutorial (File)
- Innovus - User Guide (File)
- Innovus - Text Command Reference (TCR) (File)
- Innovus - Legacy2CUI translation guide (File)
Week 13: December 8-12
- Thursday, 11.12. : SClabs Back End Session 2 Time:... (Text and media area)
- Friday, 12.12. : SClabs Back End Session 3 Time: 1... (Text and media area)
- Digital Design Labs - Back End Project (File)
Week 14: December 15-19
- Thursday, 18.12. : SClabs Back End Session 4 Time:... (Text and media area)
- Friday, 19.12. : SClabs Back End Session 5 Time: 1... (Text and media area)
Revisions
Slides Archive
MidTerm Archives
FINAL EXAM: January 19th 2025, 09:15 - 12:15; Rooms: CO5/CO6/CO260
The quiz lasts 3 hours. You have one attempt, so submit only once you have finished.
In multiple choice questions, wrong answers give negative points, but these negative points are not carried over to the total (minimum points per question is 0, never negative).
Some questions require hand calculations, but you can only hand in the final answer.
Numerical answers are expected in general with 2-decimal of accuracy (unless specified otherwise).
You can use your notes and any information on the internet, BUT YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO USE ANY Large-Language-Models or any other AI assistance or any means of communication. You are not allowed to copy-paste questions into online tools or search engines.
Please arrive ideally 15min before the start of the exam.If you finish the exam after 12:05, please remain in your seat until 12:15.