2. CMOS VLSI Design
Introduction Slide 2
Organization
Prerequisites: logic design, basic computer organization
– See sample questions
Architecture design versus chip design
– Example: innovative processor
Overview of material
– Bottom-up approach, CAD tools
– See syllabus for individual topics
Course organization
– Website, TA, office hours, HW, projects
Acknowledgements
– J. Abraham (UT), D. Harris (HMC), R. Tupuri (AMD)
3. CMOS VLSI Design
Introduction Slide 3
Course relevance
2007 world wide sales of chips: ~250B$
– Primarily digital
– High-margin business
– Basis for systems
Most CE graduates work in
– VLSI design: Intel, Qualcomm
– System design: HP, Cisco
– Software: Microsoft, Google
4. CMOS VLSI Design
Introduction Slide 4
Systems and Chips
This course: designing ICs
– Part of a system: chips + board + software + …
– System companies: HP, Cisco
– Chip companies: Intel, Qualcomm
– nVidia vs. Hercules
Example: high-end data switch
– Marketing gives range of specs, architect tries to
meet them
– Off the shelf chips, embedded software
– Why don’t we teach system design?
5. CMOS VLSI Design
Introduction Slide 5
Course Goals
Learn to design and analyze state-of-the-art digital VLSI chips
using CMOS technology
Employ hierarchical design methods
– Understand design issues at the layout, transistor, logic and
register-transfer levels
– Use integrated circuit cells as building blocks
– Use commercial design software in the lab
Understand the complete design flow
– Won’t cover architecture, solid-state physics, analog design
– Superficial treatment of transistor functioning
6. CMOS VLSI Design
Introduction Slide 6
Course Information
Instructor: Adnan Aziz
– (512) 465-9774, Adnan@ece.utexas.edu
– http://www.ece.utexas.edu/~adnan
Course Web Page
– Link from my page
Book: Weste and Harris, CMOS VLSI Design: A
Circuits and Systems Perspective, AW, 3rd edition
7. CMOS VLSI Design
Introduction Slide 7
Work in the Course
Lectures: largely from text (not always in sequence)
Homework: roughly 6 HWs
– Relatively straightforward review questions
Laboratory exercises
– Three major exercises dealing with various
aspects of VLSI design
– Complete each section before the deadline
Grad students: VLSI design project
– Design an IP core, architecture to layout
Course involves a large amount of work
throughout the semester
8. CMOS VLSI Design
Introduction Slide 8
What Will We Cover?
Designing chips containing lots of transistors
– How basic components work (transistors, gates,
flops, memories, adders,
– Complexity management: hierarchy and CAD tools
Key issues:
– Creating logical structures from transistors
– Performance analysis and optimization
– Testing: functional and manufacturing
– Power consumption, clocking, I/O, etc.
9. CMOS VLSI Design
Introduction Slide 9
Exams and Grading
Two midterm tests: in class, open book/notes;
samples will be posted
– Dates for exams in syllabus
– Final: exam (360R), project (382M)
Lab dates in syllabus
– Bonus/penalty for early/late submission
Weights for homework, exams, project are in syllabus
– Relative weights of MT1/2, Lab 1/2/3 intentionally
not specified
10. CMOS VLSI Design
Introduction Slide 10
Academic Honesty
Cheating will not be tolerated
– OK to discuss homework, laboratory exercises
with classmates, TAs and the instructors
– However: write the homework and lab exercises
by yourself
We check for cheating, and report incidents
11. CMOS VLSI Design
Introduction Slide 11
General Principles
Technology changes fast => important to understand
general principles
– optimization, tradeoffs
– work as part of a group
– leverage existing work: programs ,building blocks
Concepts remain the same:
– Example: relays -> tubes -> bipolar transistors ->
MOS transistors
12. CMOS VLSI Design
Introduction Slide 12
Types of IC Designs
IC Designs can be Analog or Digital
Digital designs can be one of three groups
Full Custom
– Every transistor designed and laid out by hand
ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuits)
– Designs synthesized automatically from a high-level
language description
Semi-Custom
– Mixture of custom and synthesized modules
16. CMOS VLSI Design
Introduction Slide 16
Laboratory Exercises
Layout and evaluation of standard cells
– Familiarity with layout, circuit simulation, timing
Design and evaluation of an ALU, performance
optimization
– Learn schematic design, timing optimization
Design, synthesis and analysis of a simple controller as
part of an SoC
– Learn RT-level design, system simulation, logic
synthesis and place-and-route
If you already have industrial experience with some of
these tools, you can substitute lab for final project
– Need my approval; will expect more from project
17. CMOS VLSI Design
Introduction Slide 17
Laboratory Design Tools
We will use commercial CAD tools
– Cadence, Synopsys, etc.
Commercial software is powerful, but very complex
– Designers sent to long training classes
– Students will benefit from using the software, but
we don’t have the luxury of long training
– TAs have experience with the software
Start work early in the lab
– Unavailability of workstations is no excuse for late
submissions
– Plan designs carefully and save work frequently
21. CMOS VLSI Design
Introduction Slide 21
Need for transistors
Cannot make logic gates with voltage/current source,
RLC components
– Consider steady state behavior of L and C
Need a “switch”: something where a (small) signal
can control the flow of another signal
22. CMOS VLSI Design
Introduction Slide 22
Coherers and Triodes
Hertz: spark gap transmitter, detector
– Verified Maxwell’s equations
– Not practical Tx/Rx system
Marconi: “coherer” changes resistance after EM
pulse, connects to solenoid
Triode: based on Edison’s bulbs!
• See Ch. 1, Tom Lee, “Design of CMOS RF ICs”
23. CMOS VLSI Design
Introduction Slide 23
A Brief History of MOS
Some of the events which led to the
microprocessor
Photographs from “State of the Art: A photographic
history of the integrated circuit,” Augarten, Ticknor &
Fields, 1983.
They can also be viewed on the Smithsonian web site,
http://smithsonianchips.si.edu/
24. CMOS VLSI Design
Introduction Slide 24
Lilienfeld patents
1930: “Method and
apparatus for controlling
electric currents”, U.S.
Patent 1,745,175
1933: “Device for controlling
electric current”, U. S. Patent
1,900,018
25. CMOS VLSI Design
Introduction Slide 25
Bell Labs
1940: Ohl develops the PN Junction
1945: Shockley's laboratory established
1947: Bardeen and Brattain create point contact
transistor (U.S. Patent 2,524,035)
Diagram from patent application
26. CMOS VLSI Design
Introduction Slide 26
Bell Labs
1951: Shockley develops a junction transistor
manufacturable in quantity (U.S. Patent 2,623,105)
Diagram from patent application
27. CMOS VLSI Design
Introduction Slide 27
1950s – Silicon Valley
1950s: Shockley in Silicon Valley
1955: Noyce joins Shockley Laboratories
1954: The first transistor radio
1957: Noyce leaves Shockley Labs to form Fairchild with
Jean Hoerni and Gordon Moore
1958: Hoerni invents technique for diffusing impurities into Si
to build planar transistors using a SiO2 insulator
1959: Noyce develops first true IC using planar transistors,
back-to-back PN junctions for isolation, diode-isolated Si
resistors and SiO2 insulation with evaporated metal wiring on
top
28. CMOS VLSI Design
Introduction Slide 28
The Integrated Circuit
1959: Jack Kilby, working at TI, dreams up the
idea of a monolithic “integrated circuit”
– Components connected by hand-soldered
wires and isolated by “shaping”, PN-diodes
used as resistors (U.S. Patent 3,138,743)
Diagram from patent application
29. CMOS VLSI Design
Introduction Slide 29
Integrated Circuits
1961: TI and Fairchild introduce the first logic
ICs ($50 in quantity)
1962: RCA develops the first MOS transistor
RCA 16-transistor MOSFET IC
Fairchild bipolar RTL Flip-Flop
30. CMOS VLSI Design
Introduction Slide 30
Computer-Aided Design
1967: Fairchild develops the “Micromosaic” IC using
CAD
– Final Al layer of interconnect could be customized for
different applications
1968: Noyce, Moore leave Fairchild, start Intel
32. CMOS VLSI Design
Introduction Slide 32
The Microprocessor
1971: Intel introduces the 4004
– General purpose programmable computer instead of
custom chip for Japanese calculator company