Coverage

1.Introduction To VLSI 2.VLSI Design Flow 3.Job Prospects 4.Course Execution

What Is VLSI
The field which involves packing more and more logic devices into smaller and smaller areas .

Circuits that would have taken board full of space can now be put into a small space few millimeters across!
VLSI has been around for a long time, there is nothing new about it ... but as a side effect of advances in the world of computers, there has been a dramatic proliferation of tools that can be used to design VLSI circuits . The capability of an IC has increased exponentially , in terms of computation power, utilization of available area, yield.

Design Methods
Type of IC chips (based on packing density) :
Small-scale integration (SSI): up to 12 gates Medium-scale integration (MSI): 12-99 gates Large-scale integration (LSI): 100-9999 gates Very large-scale integration (VLSI): 10,000-99,999 gates Ultra large-scale integration (ULSI): > 100,000 gates

Main objectives of circuit design:

(i) reduce cost
reduce number of gates (for SSI circuits) reduce IC packages (for complex circuits)

(ii) increase speed (iii) design simplicity (reuse blocks where possible)

DEALING WITH VLSI CIRCUITS

All the miniaturization involves new things to consider.
Circuit Delays. Large complicated circuits running at very high frequencies have one big problem to tackle - the problem of delays in propagation of signals through gates and wires
Power. Another effect of high operation frequencies is increased consumption of power. This has two-fold effect Devices consume batteries faster, and Heat dissipation increases. Coupled with the fact that surface areas have decreased, heat poses a major threat to the stability of the circuit itself.

Design Flow
Design entry using a hardware description language (VHDL) or Schematic entry Logic synthesis produces a netlist logic cells and their connections System partitioning divide a large system into functional blocks Prelayout simulation check to see if the design functions correctly

 SPECIFICATION of a system describes its function. Objective: to use the system as a component in more complex systems; and to serve as the basis for the implementation of the system by a network of simpler components.

COMPUTER-AIDED DESIGN TOOLS Design of digital systems an involved and laborious process Various computer-aided design (CAD) tools available Main types of CAD tools support the main phases of digital design: (i) description (specification), (ii) design (synthesis) including various optimizations to reduce cost and improve performance, and (iii) checking of the design with respect to its specification.

 DESCRIPTION of digital systems for design purposes At a high-level, use hardware-description language (HDL) At the binary level, use HDLs to describe the system structure Editors used to produce HDL programs Graphical forms - logic diagrams also used for structure

 SYNTHESIS AND OPTIMIZATION { Semi-automated SIMULATION tools generate behavior of a system for given input { Logic simulation { Timing simulation

 Design Engineer:
Takes specifications

defines architecture,
does circuit design, runs simulations, supervises layout, tapes out the chip to the foundry,

evaluates the prototype once the chip comes back from the fab.

 Product Engineer:
Gets involved in the project during the design phase, ensures manufacturability, develops characterization plan, assembles guidelines, develops quality and reliability plan, evaluates the chip with the design engineer, evaluates the chip through characterization,reliability qualification and manufacturing yield point of view (statistical data analysis). He is responsible for production release and is therefore regarded as a team leader on the project. Post production, he is responsible for customer returns, failure analysis, and corrective actions including design changes.

 Test Engineer:
Develops test plan for the chip based on specifications and data sheet creates characterization and production program for the bench test or the ATE (Automatic Test Equipment),

designs test board hardware,

correlates ATE results with the bench results to validate silicon to compare with simulation results.

He works closely with the product engineer to ensure smooth release to production and post release support.

 Applications Engineer:
Defines new products from system point of view at the customers end, based on marketing input.

His mission is to ensure the chip works in the system designed or used by the customers, and complies with appropriate standards (such as Ethernet, SONET, WiFi etc.). He is responsible for all customer technical support,
firmware development, evaluation boards, data sheets all product documentation such as application notes, trade shows, magazine articles, evaluation reports, software drives and so on.

 Process Engineer:
wafer process development, device modeling, and lots of research and development projects. If you are R&D oriented, highly trained in semiconductor device physics area, do not mind wearing bunny suits (clean room uniforms used in all fabs),

Packaging Engineer:
He develops precision packaging technology, new package designs for the chips, does the characterization of new packages, does electrical modeling of the new designs.

 CAD Engineer:
This is an engineering function that supports the design engineering function. He is responsible for acquiring, maintaining or developing all CAD tools used by a design engineer. Most companies buy commercially available CAD tools for schematic capture, simulation, synthesis, test vector generation, layout, parametric extraction, power estimation, and timing closure; but in several cases, these tools need some type of customization. A CAD engineer needs to be highly skilled in the use of these tools, Be able to write software routines to automate as many functions as possible have a clear understanding of the entire design flow.