Students deepen their knowledge of design methods of digital systems and are introduced to Hardware Description Languages and automatic synthesis. Implementation styles (e.g. ASIC, FPGA) are introduced. The principle functional units of a modern computer system are designed. The principles of computer arithmetic and the IEEE 754 standard are introduced
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module students should be able to:
Design, model and synthesise simple systems using VHDL; ‐ Explain the key features of modern microprocessor design (e.g. superscalar, superpipelining, out‐of‐order execution, RISC versus CISC), and how they impact in processor performance;
Explain the architecture of a modern computer, identify issues affecting performance, and perform quantitative analyses on performance limits imposed by bus and memory hierarchy design
Explain the key features of design for test, and design appropriate test patterns and pattern generators for simple digital systems.
Assessment
Assessment Methods & Exceptions
Assessment: 50% coursework report 1000 words 50% closed book exam 1.5 hours