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DVD - Lecture 1b: Building a Chip
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DVD - Lecture 1b: Building a Chip

Introduction to Chip Design

In this section, the speaker introduces the general design approach for engineering problems and discusses how it applies to chip design.

Design Approach for Engineering Problems

  • Engineers should divide and conquer each part of a problem by partitioning the design into mini sub-problems that are manageable.
  • Mathematical models must be defined for each sub-problem, and algorithmic solutions must be found. However, model limitations must be checked to ensure accuracy.
  • Different design tools are used to implement the algorithm, and interfaces between different parts must be defined.
  • Checking tools for boundary conditions are implemented to verify and validate designs. This is usually done by a third party.
  • The final step is connecting everything together to create a flow. Flows are important because they allow us to manage the process step-by-step.

Basic Design Abstraction in Chip Design

  • There are several ways to look at basic design abstraction in chip design, but one way is starting with the system level and diving into what's called register transfer level (RTL).
  • RTL will then be synthesized into gate level which describes how different logic digital gates are connected together.
  • Gates are built out of transistors or single devices that can be connected together. These transistors go through process design steps that make up the physical electronic thing called layout level.
  • It's important to verify every single step of the way from bottom-up when designing chips.

Design Abstraction

In this section, the speaker discusses how engineers use physics to create devices and circuits. They also explain how different levels of design abstraction are used to describe logic units and instructions.

Levels of Design Abstraction

  • Engineers use physics to create devices and circuits.
  • Different levels of design abstraction are used to describe logic units and instructions.
  • Most engineers specialize in one level of design abstraction.
  • System level abstraction is a high-level description of an algorithm or application.

Register Transfer Level

  • Register transfer level is used to describe what type of logic is needed for a circuit.
  • Register transfer level uses bit vectors as abstractions from bit-level implementation.
  • Sequential constructs such as if then else are used in register transfer level.

Gate Level Abstraction

  • The gate level abstraction is where circuits are created using input from device models and output gates with their characteristics.
  • Gate level abstraction involves creating mutually infinite state machines for sequential systems.

Understanding the Different Levels of Abstraction in Chip Design

In this section, the speaker discusses the different levels of abstraction in chip design and how they are used to create gates and circuits.

Gate Level Abstraction

  • Gates have different characteristics such as delay and power.
  • Different models can be used to determine these characteristics.
  • These models help with circuit simulation and building gates for RTL.

Transistor Level Abstraction

  • Compact models describe how devices work at the transistor level.
  • Circuit simulation is used to build gates for RTL.

Layout Level Abstraction

  • The layout level involves designing layers and polygons that connect transistors together.
  • This level is important for fabricating chips.

Mask Level Abstraction

  • The mask level involves creating photographic masks from the layout design.
  • These masks are used in the fabrication process.

The IEEE Chip Hall of Fame

In this section, the speaker talks about the IEEE Chip Hall of Fame, which showcases famous microprocessors throughout history.

Intel 4004 Microprocessor

  • First commercially available monolithic CPU released in 1971 with 2,300 transistors.
  • Designed by Federico Fagan as a side project while working at Intel.
  • Originally designed for a Japanese company called Busicom who wanted to make a calculator.
  • Became a popular product and started Intel as we know it today.
Playlists: Digital VLSI Design (RTL to GDS)
Video description

Bar-Ilan University 83-612: Digital VLSI Design This is Lecture 1 of the Digital VLSI Design course at Bar-Ilan University. In this course, I cover the basics of Chip Implementation, from designing the logic (RTL) to providing a layout ready for fabrication (GDS). Lecture 1 covers the motivation for the course and an introduction to the chip design process. Part 1b gives a high level overview of how a chip is built. Lecture slides can be found on the EnICS Labs web site at: https://enicslabs.com/academic-courses/dvd-english/ All rights reserved: Prof. Adam Teman Emerging nanoscaled Integrated Circuits and Systems (EnICS) Labs Faculty of Engineering, Bar-Ilan University