From CSE464

CSE/ESE 464. Digital Systems Engineering

Course description

Design and characterization of digital circuits, reliable and predictable interconnection of digital devices, and information transfer over busses and other connections. Topics include: Review of MOSFET operation; CMOS logic gate electrical characteristics; System and single-point noise margin and noise budgets; Figures of merit for noise- margin and power-delay product, and trade-off between noise margin and propagation delay; Transmission-line driving including reflection, termination, non-zero transition time, lumped and distributed capacitance loads, non-linear terminations, and applicable conditions for lumped approximations; Coupled transmission lines, forward and backward crosstalk, short line approximations, ground bounce, and simultaneous switching noise; Timing, clocking, and clock distribution for digital circuits; Prediction of metastability error rates and design for acceptable probability of failure. Examples and design exercises using systems and interconnections selected from current Computer Engineering practice such as RAMBUS, PCI bus, GTL, LVDS, and others. Prerequisites: ESE 232/EE 290.

Administrivia

• Time: Monday, Wednesday 2:30-4:00
• Place: Urbauer 116
• Text: Digital Systems Engineering - Dally and Poulton, 1998
  • Errata from Dally
  • Errata from WUSTL
• Instructor: David M. Zar, Bryan 307C, 935-4876, office hours by appointment (send me email or call me to schedule).
• Grading: Homework 25%, Mid Term: 35%, Final: 40%.

Homework. No late homework will be accepted. Feel free to talk to the professor, friends, relatives or Martians about the homework. You must follow the academic integrity rules, however, so you must acknowledge who or what helped you. This is just acknowledgement of source of material, and recognition of the work contributed by others, it has no effect on your grade (unless you don't recognize source material that you did use). Obviously, do not simply copy someone else's work, even with acknowledgement. The only way to really learn the material is to work problems on your own.

Expectations. You should plan to read the textbook. It is expensive. Use it! It's a good book. Spend ample time reading, and rereading, sections and you will get a lot out of it. Work the problem sets. You cannot expect to learn the material simply by attending class. Engineering is not a spectator sport. It requires your active and energetic participation. The good news is that the more you let yourself get involved in what you're doing, the more you will learn and the more you will enjoy the creative and inventive aspects of engineering that make it both fun and rewarding.

Attendance. Class attendance, while not required, is important. You will be expected to know the material presented in class and some of it will not be in the text. I will post overheads and such to the web site, but notes written in class may not be duplicated on the web site so talk to your classmates if you miss a class to see what additional material you missed.

On-line Communication. Most information about the course can be obtained electronically. All homework will be posted online as well as the solutions.

Examinations. There will be two exams given during the semester, during class periods. The midterm exam is scheduled for March 4, in class. (This is the Wednesday before spring break! Do not plan to leave town early until you've confirmed this date.) The midterm date is subject to change but will be finalized at least two weeks prior to the exam date. The final exam will be given on Monday May 4, 2009 3:30 PM - 5:30 PM. All exams will be closed-book, closed-note exams with one 8.5"x11" cheat sheet allowed for the midterm and two for the final. These cheat sheets will be hand written. No photocopies are allowed. You will be allowed a scientific calculator on the exams. No computers, MP3 players, cell phones or other electronic equipment will be allowed. You should not expect to leave the exam room during the examination. You should not bring food to the exams. This is distracting to your colleagues who are trying to concentrate. Course Outline

• Digital Systems Packaging
• Simulation with HSPICE
• Noise Margin
• Wires
  • Properties (R, C, L)
  • Models
  • Transmission Lines
  • Drivers/Terminations
  • Eye Diagrams
  • Second Level Effects
• Crosstalk
• Noise in Digital Systems
• Signaling Systems
• Power Distribution
• Timing
  • Clock Domains
  • Delay Constraints
  • Synchronous Skew and Jitter
• Clock Distribution
• Synchronizers and Metastability