Digital circuit technologies

This course introduces students to the state of the art in digital integrated circuits, and provides them with the skills needed to choose the right technology.  

Design flows are presented, along with the resulting organization of the semiconductor industry. The current and emerging technologies on which digital circuits are based are then detailed. These technologies enable the construction of elementary circuits such as logic gates, flip-flops and memories. The example of FPGA architecture and synthesis methods is studied in detail. The main criteria impacting on the choice of circuit technologies are then presented and studied using examples. The course concludes with a presentation of test-optimized design methods.

Course 1 - TD1: Review of the VHDL language

Course 2: Introduction to digital integrated circuits: industry, market, technologies, design methods, roadmap.

Cours 3 et 4 - TD 3 et 4: FPGA architecture - Synthesis and routing placement

Lessons 5 , 6 and 7 - TD 4, 5 and 6: Characteristics and performance of digital IC logic families; logic gates and associated technologies; volatile and non-volatile memories.

Course 8 - TD 7: Designing digital circuits for test: test procedures, fault models, integration and testability assessment.

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Students are introduced to the current state-of-the-art of the digital IC industry. They learn how, as a designer, they can properly select and implement a technology to reach expected performances.

Digital integrated circuits design flows are presented , together with the related industry flow and organization. Then current and emerging technologies in the microelectronics industry are detailed. Based on these technologies, elementary components of digital circuits are designed, such as logic gates, flip-flops, memory cells. The FPGA architecture and synthesis flow are then detailed. Circuit specifications at the gate level are explained and an overview of the available technologies is presented. Finally, the design-for-test methodology is presented and illustrated on simple circuits.

Reading 1: VHDL language recall 

Lecture 2: Introduction to Digital ICs: industry, market, technologies, design flows, roadmap

Lecture 3 , 4 : FPGA design - Synthesis, place and route

Lecture 5 , 6 , 7 : Digital IC specifications and performances; logic gates technologies and foundries ; volatile and non-volatile memories.

Lecture 8 : Design for testability in digital circuits: design flow, test equipment, fault models, testability strategies and evaluation.

This module enables students to understand the state of the art in digital integrated circuits, and to acquire the skills of the digital integrated circuit designer in terms of technology selection. The notions acquired are detailed for FPGA design, and are applied in module EN202. 

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Students are introduced to the current state-of-the-art of the digital IC industry. They learn how, as a designer, they can properly select and implement a technology to reach expected performances. The FPGA example is detailed, to be applied in the course EN202.

Knowledge of semiconductor physics - Basic electronics - VHDL language

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Basics in semiconductors physics - Circuits electronics - VHDL language

Electronics - Circuit design - Digital technologies

Course materials.