Digital Microelectronic Systems PG

Postgraduate | 2026

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Area/Catalogue
ENGE 5019
Course ID icon
Course ID
206578
Level of study
Level of study
Postgraduate
Unit value icon
Unit value
6
Course level icon
Course level
5
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Inbound study abroad and exchange
Inbound study abroad and exchange
The fee you pay will depend on the number and type of courses you study.
Yes
University-wide elective icon
University-wide elective course
Yes
Single course enrollment
Single course enrolment
Yes
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Note:
Course data is interim and subject to change

Course overview

Introduction to fabrication processes, design rules (revisited); Transistor models (revisited from third year electronics); Layout issues; ASIC design flow; VLSI design methodology and leaf cell design; Performance estimation of CMOS complex gates and interconnected modules using logical effort; Interconnect issues; Clock distribution; Design margin, reliability and scaling; Static and dynamic CMOS logic families and adders design; Memories - static and dynamic RAMS; Pseudon-NMOS and dynamic PLA; Low power design and system level consideration.

Course learning outcomes

  • Explain CMOS technology fabrication and device characteristics and parasitic effects
  • Design digital logic gates and standard cells at transistor schematic and corresponding layouts level in CMOS technology using pseudo-nMOS, pass transistor, footed and footless domino logic families
  • Explain and evaluate the effect of the parasitic and loading on CMOS circuit operation and performance in terms of size, area and noise margin and ways to minimise delay
  • Model the effect of interconnect upon a design and to apply strategies to mitigate problems arising from interconnect loading
  • Explain the function of CMOS memory circuits and design basic CMOS ROM and PLA circuits
  • Explain factors that influence circuit reliability and be able to apply reasonable design margins
  • Explain the effect of scaling on circuit behaviour and appreciate technology trends with respect to scaling
  • Explain system level considerations such as floor planning, power dissipation, clock skew and micro-architecture to system performance
  • Use a set of software tools to specify, synthesise, layout and simulate microelectronic circuits
  • Demonstrate team work to design of a major digital system module

Prerequisite(s)

N/A

Corequisite(s)

N/A

Antirequisite(s)

N/A