A course in VLSI semicustom design in a small school environment

A semicustom very large-scale integration (VLSI) course tailored to small university capabilities is described. The novel feature of this course is its close cooperation between the class, a computer-aided design (CAD) manufacturer, and a silicon vendor. The semester-long course includes two 1.5 h lectures per week. The lab was organized on an open-door basis. Students were allowed to enter the lab twenty-four hours per day. The project-oriented course was designed to enable students to: become familiar with the theoretical aspects of custom-specific circuits; go through a VLSI design cycle from specification to silicon layout; learn to use a personal computer-based workstation as a design and simulation tool; become familiar with different approaches to semi-custom design; and work on real designs by cooperating with a local industry