EE/CS 118/218 Digital Design
Prerequisite Skills, Program and Course Objectives

Course Prerequisites: EER-018 Introduction to Digital Computers

Skill Prerequisites:
Students will use the following skills from EER-018 in this class:

Program and Course Objectives:
The general mission of the course is to build on student's fundamental knowledge of digital logic to give them the skills required for general digital design, including design description, synthesis methodology, and understanding of common design and test criteria. The course also addresses many CpE progam outcomes. These are correlated as follows:

 

CpE02. Students will be able to develop performance criteria and test plans for hardware and software and interpret the results.
- Students will be able to 

develop simulation inputs for digital hardware designs

develop a test plan for their final digital design project

interpret the results of simulation and hardware testing and debug the design to achieve correct operation

understand timing constraints on digital circuits and be able to interpret the results of timing analyses.

 

CpE03. Students will be able to analyze and design software and hardware and understand the advantages and disadvantages of hardware and software solutions to problems.

- Students will be able to do

hazard-free combinational design,

sequential circuit timing analysis,

finite state machine with datapath (FSMD) design.

CpE04. Students will be able to work as effective team members on complex projects.

- Students will demonstrate the following teamwork skills in laboratory and design projects:

Group communication skills when formulating a project design plan

The ability to decompose a project into tasks and assign them to individuals

The ability to specify and communicate clear interfaces of design components

The ability to integrate individual components of a digital design project together into a functional system

The ability to plan and implement a coordinated team oral presentation and report

CpE05. Students will be able to specify computer engineering problems precisely, develop system models, and use these models to implement solutions. (PROFICIENCY)

- Students will learn the VHSIC Hardware Description Language (VHDL) and be able to describe

combinational and sequential modules (decoders, alus, multiplexors, registers, counters, etc)

finite state machines, datapath circuits

component netlists

common operations as subprograms in a package format.

CpE07. Students will be able to communicate effectively in both oral and written forms.
- Students will improve their writing skills through laboratory and project reports to be able to:

Provide an introduction to a technical report that is accessible to peers outside the course.

Clearly explain the procedure, design and results of a digital design or analysis exercise.

Describe conclusions that can be drawn from a design or analysis exercise.

- Students will be able to communicate effectively to a variety of audiences including demonstration of the following skills: clear and effective oral presentations,  listening and comprehending.
- Students will improve their oral communication skills by practicing and presenting their final project.

CpE10. Students will become familiar with the rapidly changing contemporary issues in computer engineering.
- Students will be able to comprehend and respond to current literature on contemporary issues in digital design.

CpE11. Students will be proficient with programming languages and tools for numerical/symbolic modeling and analysis; eg. circuit simulation, digital design automation, graphical representation, and software modeling. (PROFICIENCY)

- Students will learn to use modern EDA tools to

model and simulate digital circuits,

synthesize, implement on an FPGA, test and debug digital circuits.