www.technofizi.in

1. Design and Implementation of VLSI Systems
(EN1600)
lecture01

2. Lecture 01: the big picture
• Introduction
• Brief Tour of VLSI Design and Implementation
• Class logistics

3. Objectives of the class
• A VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration) system integrates
millions of “electronic components” in a small area (few
mm2 → few cm2).
• Class objective: Learn how to design “efficient” VLSI
systems that implement required functionalities.
• What are the design metrics?
• Circuit Speed / Performance
• Power consumption
• Design Area
• Yield

4. What are VLSI systems composed of?
1.Transistors 2. Wires
nMOS
+
=
design
pMOS
Circuits
CMOS logic gates

5. How does an IC look like from the inside?
wires
transistors
R. Noyce J. Kilby

6. Technology scaling
If a pond lily doubles everyday and it takes 30 days to completely
cover a pond, on what day will the pond be 1/2 covered?
Moore’s Law. The number of transistors in an integrated
circuit doubles every 2 years.
Quad core
from Intel:
~600 million
transistors in
286 mm2

7. Feature sizes
Human Hair
~75 µm
. 0.18 µm
180 nm
. feature
~40,000 (65-nm node) transistors could fit on cross-section
[C. Keast]

8. Why should you learn about VLSI systems?
• They are ubiquitous in our daily lives
(computers/iPods/TVs/Cars/…/etc).
→ EN160 can help you understand the devices you use.
• The market for VLSI systems (and semiconductors) is
worth $250 billion dollars.
→ EN160 can help you get a decent job after graduation (or you
can even start your own company).
• VLSI design and analysis is fun!

9. Biggest semiconductor companies

10. Lecture 01: the big picture
• Introduction
• Brief Tour of VLSI Design and Implementation
• Class logistics

11. What does it take to design VLSI systems? Same
engineering principles you learned so far
1. idea (need)
2. write
specifications
3. design
system 4. analyze/
model
if satisfactory
system
5. Fabrication
6. test / work
as modeled?

12. 1. Applications / Ideas

13. 2. Specifications
• Instruction set
• Interface (I/O pins)
• Organization of the system
• Functionality of each unit in
the and how it to
communicate to other unit

14. 3/4. Design and Analysis
VHDL / Verilog / SystemC
design schematics
compilation/
synthesis
mask layout patterns find wire routes device layout
• Design development is facilitated using Computer-Aided Design
(CAD) tools

15. 5. Fabrication
tapeout
mask layout patterns mask writer masks
printing
test and
packaging
dice
chip die
wafer

16. 6. Evaluate design and compare to model.
• Check signal integrity
• Power consumption
• Input/output behavior
• Does the chip function as it is
supposed to be?
• Does it work at desired clock
frequency? (can we overclock?)
board

17. What are we going to cover in this class?
• Overview of VLSI CMOS fabrication
• MOS transistor theory
• VLSI Layout design
• Circuit analysis and performance estimation
• Computer-aided design and analysis tools
• Combinational and sequential circuit design
• Memory systems
• Big, nice design project

18. Textbooks
Recommended Additional