Master of Science in Microelectronics System Design

Supervised thesis work in fundamental research or applied problems.

This course discusses issues that arise in the design and analysis of VLSI circuits at high speed. Technology scaling trends in CMOS. Power consumption and low power design. Interconnect design and delay modeling. Inductance effects. Static Timing Analysis. Noise. Thermal effects.

Overview of Computer Aided Design tool flow for ASIC and FPGA Design. Synthesis from hardware
description languages and creation of finite state machines. Differences between FPGA and ASIC
design flows. Exploration of concepts in several projects.

This course opens up the important CAD tools that perform the many steps of the transformation from high-level descriptions to masks. Mathematical models, algorithms, formulations and data structures. Algorithms for floor planning, circuit partitioning, placement and routing. Circuit simulation. Digital and mixed-mode simulation. Optimization. Statistical IC design.

In this course, students follow an in-depth directed study in a given topic or field of their choice under the close supervision of a faculty member. If the topic or field of study is in an area of specialization in Microelectronics, it may count towards the Specialized MSD (or Depth) requirement. Otherwise, it may count towards the Elective (or Breadth) requirement. A student may repeat the course for credit, provided that the topic or field of choice is different. Repeating the course for credit requires the approval of the program director.

Overview of the concept of the Internet of Things at a high level, defining the term and outlining its implications. This module discusses the roles of both the hardware and software components in the system. The functions of standard hardware components are described, and the interface between the software and hardware through the microcontroller is explained. IoT devices often use an operating system to support the software and the microcontroller interaction. We will define the role of an operating system in an IoT device and how an IoT operating system differs from a standard one. This module will introduce the basics of networking and the Internet protocol. Eventually, most IoT devices are connected to the Internet, so understanding the protocols associated with the Internet is essential to the design of IoT devices. We will also introduce the concept of a Mobile Ad Hoc Network, or MANET, which describes small, local networks of IoT devices.

This course focuses on the fundamental skills required for research, like how to write a paper and the meaning of Scopus and SCI. What is the difference between journals and conferences? Some basic statistics will be covered.

IC Technology. Basic processing technology and layout fundamentals. Design and layout of MOS
and BJT transistors, capacitors, and resistors. Memory technology: static and dynamic RAMs,
ROMs, CAMs. Models for computer aided analysis. Economics of large scale integration.

Introduction to the design of radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs). Transceiver architectures, transistor models, passive component models, MOS and bipolar low-noise amplifiers, mixers, voltage-controlled oscillators, phase-locked loops, and baseband circuits.

This course is tailored to introduce students to the latest advances in various fields of Microelectronics System Design, and/or to focus on a specific area of particular interest to the discipline. Contents of the course may vary from one semester to another. A student may repeat the course for credit, provided that the selection of topics is different. Repeating the course for credit requires the approval of the program director.

This course introduces fabrication and design fundamentals for on-chip sensor and actuator systems having micron-scale dimensions. Basic principles covered include microstructure fabrication, silicon and thin-film materials mechanics, electrostatic force, capacitive motion detection, fluidic damping, piezoelectricity, piezo resistivity, and thermal micromechanics. Applications covered include pressure sensors, micro mirror displays, accelerometers, and gas micro sensors.

This course focuses on designing digital IC blocks in CMOS technology from the bottom up. Design rules and layout static, dynamic pass gates, and other logic families. Sequential circuits, arithmetic circuits, data path structure, and memories. Interconnect and I/O design. Clock and power distribution networks, testing and reliability. Design of cutting-edge VLSI chip. Teams of 3 to 5 students undertake a significant circuit design problem, going from specification to VLSI implementation while optimizing for speed, area, and power. Group collaboration and engineering design. 

This course will familiarize students with advanced analog integrated circuit (IC) design issues highlighting major analog building blocks and circuit techniques. Specific topics include MOSFET device modeling, noise analysis, op-amp design and compensation, and reference circuits. Special attention is given to analog-to-digital converters, and digital-to-analog converters.