Digital IC Design

Overview

Digital Computation is now ubiquitous, everything can compute.  VLSI design concepts are necessary for all levels of digital computer design from computer architecture down to digital logic gates.  Communication devices have digital computation leading to the merger of computers and communication devices.

Digital electronics continue to grow in capability and decrease in cost as the effects of Moore’s law continue.  CMOS technology is dominant presently, but the basics of digital design, test, verification, and validation will apply whatever the next technology is.  Microprocessor designers, ASIC designers, and FPGA designers all use the digital electronics concepts in this track.  The digital designers model their design at their level of abstraction and verify their implementation with other levels.

Digital designers today start with general VLSI design techniques learned with an MS degree and then apply those skills to the particular requirements of their job.  This gives the digital IC design engineer the tools to deliver successful digital designs.

Core Courses

ECE 525 Digital Integrated Circuit Design I
ECE 526 Digital Integrated Circuit Design II
ECE 530 Physical Design of Digital Integrated Circuits 
ECE 581 ASIC Modeling and Synthesis

Course Planning

A suggested curriculum for the Digital IC Design 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. One additional suggested course for PD Engineers is ECE 510 16nm FinFET ioT SoC Design and Fabrication.
4. ECE 571 should be taken before or/at the same term as ECE 585 if these courses are planned to be taken in a secondary focus area.

Primary Focus: Digital IC Design. Secondary Focus: Computer Architecture

Core courses of ECE 525, ECE 526, ECE 530, ECE 581
And Depth and Breadth course list of:
ECE 571 Introduction to System Verilog for Design and Verification
ECE 585 Microprocessors System Design
ECE 586 Computer Architecture
ECE 587 Advanced Computer Architecture I
One additional 4-credit ECE course:
ECE 588 Advanced Computer Architecture II

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

Core courses of ECE 525, ECE 526, ECE 530, ECE 581
And Depth and Breadth course list of:
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
One additional 4-credit ECE course:
ECE 550 Post-Silicon Functional Validation

Primary Focus: Digital IC Design. Secondary Focus: Embedded Systems

Core courses of ECE 525, ECE 526, ECE 530, ECE 581
And Depth and Breadth course list of:
ECE 540 System on a Chip Design with FPGAs
ECE 544 Embedded System Design with FPGAs
ECE 558 Embedded Systems Programming
ECE 571 Introduction to System Verilog for Design and Verification
One additional 4-credit ECE course:
ECE 582 Formal Verification of HW/SW Systems

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 Digital IC Design

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

Adjunct Faculty

Brian Cruikshank, MSEE, Senior PE, Ampere. Expertise: ACIS Design.