* understanding of the design flow of a digital chip
* ability to design simple digital circuits
* knowledge of design alternatives
* ability to judge the impact of design decisions (circuit variants, target technology, ...)
* basic understanding of faults and defects in HW as well as of testing as a counter measure

* logic optimization
* structure and specifications of logic gates
* I/O features (schmitt trigger, open collector, ...)
* power dissipation and cooling
* synchronous logic, limitations, metastability, state machines
* memory types
* VLSI design flow
* VHDL programming
* simulation of hardware
* target technologies for VLSI designs
* chip manufacturing process
* defects and testing

Didactic concept: This is a classical lecture. The whole material is presented in lectures, in theory as well as with a relation to practical application. Example calculations are made during the lecture to facilitate the preparation for the final exam, and to show quantitative results and relations. During one lecture an experiment is made showing the "speed signal propagation" in an intuitive way. The lecture slides including numerous animations are available on the homepage. For the preparation of the final exam a collection of past exams is also available.

http://ti.tuwien.ac.at/ecs/teaching/courses/ written The examination is written only and comprises a theory part (about 10 short questions) and (about 4) problems. For more information and list of dates see homepage. There you can also find past exams.

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