Short description:

This textbook provides HDL-based examples, experiments, and projects that cover real industry needs such as design/coding rules and methodologies. It will help readers build a connection between the HDL code and hardware circuits.

Long description:

This textbook seeks to foster a deep understanding of the field by introducing the industry integrated circuit (IC) design flow and offering tape-out or pseudo tape-out projects for hands-on practice, facilitating project-based learning (PBL) experiences.

Integrated Circuit Design: IC Design Flow and Project-Based Learning aims to equip readers for entry-level roles as IC designers in the industry and as hardware design researchers in academia. The book commences with an overview of the industry IC design flow, with a primary focus on register-transfer level (RTL) design, the automation of simulation and verification, and system-on-chip (SoC) integration. To build connections between RTL design and physical hardware, FPGA (field-programmable gate array) synthesis and implementation is utilized to illustrate the hardware description and performance evaluation.  The second objective of this book is to provide readers with practical, hands-on experience through tape-out or pseudo tape-out experiments, labs, and projects. These activities are centered on coding format, industry design rules (synthesizable Verilog designs, clock domain crossing, etc.), and commonly-used bus protocols (arbitration, handshaking, etc.), as well as established design methodologies for widely-adopted hardware components, including counters, timers, finite state machines (FSMs), I2C, single/dual-port and ping-pong buffers/register files, FIFOs, floating-point units (FPUs), numerical hardware (Fourier transform, matrix-matrix multiplication, etc.), direct memory access (DMA), image processing designs, neural networks, and more.

The textbook caters to a diverse readership, including junior and senior undergraduate students, as well as graduate students pursuing degrees in electrical engineering, computer engineering, computer science, and related fields. The target audience is expected to have a basic understanding of Boolean Algebra and Karnaugh Maps, as well as prior familiarity with digital logic components such as AND/OR gates, latches, and flip-flops. The book will also be useful for entry-level RTL designers and verification engineers who are embarking on their journey in application-specific IC (ASIC) and FPGA design industry.

Table of Contents:

Chapter 1- Introduction to IC Design

Chapter 2- IC Design Flow

Chapter 3- Introduction to Verilog HDL

Chapter 4- RTL Design with Verilog HDL

Chapter 5- Design Simulation with Verilog HDL

Chapter 6- Synthesis: Matching Verilog HDL with Basic Combinational and Sequential Circuits

Chapter 7- FSM Design

Chapter 8- FSM-Datapath Design and Bus Communication

Chapter 9- Numerical Hardware Design and Integration

Chapter 10- Streaming and Iterative Design on Numerical Hardware

Chapter 11- Timing Constraints and High-Speed RTL Design

Chapter 12- SoC Design and Integration