Fall 2014 Course is in production. Lectures will be added as they are produced.

The incessant drive of Moore's law has created an era where most electronic systems contain chips that integrate various (hitherto discrete) components such as microprocessor, DSPs, dedicated hardware processing engines, memories, and interfaces to I/O devices and off-chip storage. Most electronic systems today - cell phones, iPods, set-top boxes, digital TVs, automobiles - contain at least one such "System-on-chip". Designing System-on-chips is a highly complex process. Before entering the traditional VLSI implementation process (RTL, logic & physical design), design teams need to perform the challenging tasks of developing a functional specification, partitioning and mapping of functions onto hardware components and software, design of a communication architecture to interconnect the components, functional/performance/power analysis and validation, and more. This course will present students with an insight into the earlier stages of the System-on-chip design process (what happens before you get down to RTL, gates, transistors, and wires). In addition to the conceptual foundations, this course will also involve significant hands-on assignments and/or a project that will give students an exposure to state-of-the-art design methodologies and platforms.