COMP22111: Processor Microarchitecture (2012-2013)
Formerly called "VLSI System Design" - the module title has been updated to reflect the syllabus better.
This module aims to develop the two key aspects of COMP12111, namely hardware design and microprocessors. COMP12111 gave an overview of the hardware development process; COMP22111 builds on these skills to introduce and exercise industrially relevant hardware skills with a design flow from concept to implementation. It used microprocessors as design examples to illustrate and reinforce how machine code, output from a compiler, is interpreted and executed by a computer.
Much of the emphasis is on practical work and the laboratories take a microprocessor design through from an instruction set specification to a physical FPGA implementation. The lectures complement this and extend the scope towards the processes necessary to turn this into custom silicon.
The module aims to give a view of the role of a digital hardware designer, taking an idea and implementing it as a silicon chip. A processor is a representative example of logic used in today's chips, also giving further insight into how computers actually work.
Having completed the module you should have developed the confidence to be able to take a concept and realise it in hardware. You should also appreciate the test and verification processes involved so that your chips work efficiently and reliably ... first time, every time!
|Programme outcome||Unit learning outcomes||Assessment|
|A3||Have a knowledge and understanding of the process of designing VLSI chips.|
|A3||Have an understanding of the different design stages and representations of a VLSI circuit.|
|A3||Have an understanding of the major architectural and performance factors to be considered in the global design of a large integrated circuit.|
|A3||Have an understanding and appreciation of the problems arising out of the rapid change of technology and increase in design complexity.|
|A3 B1 B2 B3 C1 C2 C5 C6 D4 D5||Be able to design a 16-bit RISC processor at the upper levels of the design process, and have experience of the tools to test and debug the design.|
|A3 C5 C6||Have a knowledge and understanding of industry-standard hardware description languages.|