Design Verification and Validation

Overview

The presence of microprocessors and application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) to improve and enrich lives is pervasive. Advances in manufacturing technology continue to accelerate the opportunity to create new, exciting products.  There are many critical factors in the successful development of new designs and it is estimated that well more than half the effort is spent on validation.  Design verification and validation is a systematic, engineering approach that works in tandem with other critical concerns to guide the development of correct and maintainable designs.  This area is also of particular interest to the Portland metro area with the corporate presence of worldwide leaders in EDA tools and microprocessor development. 

PSU’s MS ECE design verification and validation track provides an opportunity for students to gain an understanding of modern designs and validation techniques used for large scale commercial designs.  Courses cover topics including computer architecture, System Verilog, simulation, emulation, formal verification, pre-silicon functional validation, and post-silicon functional and electrical validation.  Classes are offered in the evenings to accommodate work schedules. Many of the instructors have been recruited from the local industry.

Core Courses

Please note that these will be the Core courses beginning with the 2025-2026 academic year, but current students can still use the core courses published for the year they were admitted:

ECE 560 Assertion Based Verification
ECE 571 Introduction to System Verilog for Design and Verification
ECE 582 Formal Verification of HW/SW Systems
ECE 593 Fundamentals of Pre-silicon Validation

Course Planning

A suggested curriculum for the Design Verification and Validation track's Core and Depth and Breadth courses can be found below. Some notes about course sequence order:

1. All course pre-requisites need to be met.
2. The courses below will not necessarily be taken in the order listed.
3. ECE 571 should be taken before or/at the same term as ECE 585 for students following the Computer Architecture secondary focus.

Primary Focus: Design Verification and Validation. Secondary Focus: Computer Architecture

Core courses of ECE 560, ECE 571, ECE 582, ECE 593
And Depth and Breadth course list of:
ECE 527 High-performance Digital Systems
ECE 550 Post-Silicon Functional Validation
ECE 585 Microprocessors System Design
ECE 586 Computer Architecture
One additional 4-credit ECE course:
ECE 595 Emulation and Functional Specification Verification

Primary Focus: Design Verification and Validation. Secondary Focus: Digital IC Design. 

Core courses of ECE 560, ECE 571, ECE 582, ECE 593
And Depth and Breadth course list of:
ECE 525 Digital Integrated Circuit Design I
ECE 526 Digital Integrated Circuit Design II
ECE 550 Post-Silicon Functional Validation
ECE 583 Low Power Digital IC Design
One additional 4-credit ECE course:
ECE 595 Emulation and Functional Specification Verification

Primary Focus: Design Verification and Validation. Secondary Focus: Embedded Systems

Core courses of ECE 560, ECE 571, ECE 582, ECE 593
And Depth and Breadth course list of:
ECE 527 High-performance Digital Systems
ECE 540 System on a Chip Design with FPGAs
ECE 550 Post-Silicon Functional Validation
ECE 583 Low Power Digital IC Design
One additional 4-credit ECE course:
ECE 595 Emulation and Functional Specification Verification

Suggested Schedule for Full-time ECE MS Students

The schedule below is for students beginning the ECE MS program in Fall term. Students that begin in Winter term will shift their schedule one term forward and can work with the department on advising for their course plans.

First Year Plan

Note: International Students on F-1 visas with internship offers will take 1 internship credit of ECE 504 the summer after their first year, if applicable.

Second Year Plan

 *Students who are not participating in internships can replace ECE 504 in the above table with elective courses

Possible Careers in Design Verification and Validation

Please see our Careers in Electrical and Computer Engineering page to find out more information about the types of careers that may be available for graduates of the ECE MS program.

Track Director

Supporting Faculty