Digital Systems Design is an optional subject in 4th year of the Degree in Electronic Engineering and in the 5th year of the double Degree in Physics and Electronic Engineering. In particular, the subject is part of the speciality General Purpose Electronic Systems. The subject focuses on providing students with knowledge and skills to allow them to tackle an advanced project in designing a digital system in different fields of application, using programmable logic devices and the latest technologies of design with VHDL. Architectures and designs for high speeds, optimisation of resources and optimisation of consumption.

In order to approach the design of digital systems it is necessary for students previously study the 3rd year subject of the Degree in Electronic Engineering, Digital Electronics subject which introduces the theoretical and practical fundamentals. In relation to the professional field, Digital Systems Design is an eminently practical course that contributes to a successful profile for students and their insertion in different sectors where the design of circuits and digital electronic systems has a wide implantation: Consumer Electronics and Professional Electronics (including Industrial, Electromedicine, Defence and Instrumentation).

At the end of the course students are expected to have acquired the following competences:

- An ability to acquire dexterity in advanced aspects of the analysis and design of circuits and current digital electronic systems.

- An ability to understand and apply the most modern methods and techniques used in the planning, design and operation of circuits and complex digital electronic systems in various areas of application.

- An ability to understand and manage with ease computer tools to help design digital circuits on reconfigurable devices, promoting the use of ICTs.

- Being able to follow and understand the development and evolution of electronic devices and technologies, particularly in the field of digital electronics.

- Being able to approach the resolution of real practical problems, individually or in groups, in the development of digital electronic systems.

- An ability to communicate, both orally and in writing, knowledge, results and ideas related to analogue electronics.

1- Introduction to digital systems. Evolution of integrated circuit technology. Moore's Law, Standard integrated circuits. Application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC).



2- Programmable logic devices: technologies and architectures. Background: PROM, PAL, PLA, SPLD devices. Complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs). EPROM and EEPROM technologies. Field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs). SRAM technology. Families of current devices. System on a programmable chip (SoPC).



3- Design methodologies

Tools to help the design of digital systems. Design flow: design input, synthesis, simulation and implementation. Hardware description languages ​​(HDL) standard: VHDL and Verilog. Other languages ​ used in the description of systems.



4- System design with VHDL I

Review of basic concepts of the VHDL language for synthesis. Structure of the code. Data types, operators and attributes. Signals and variables. Concurrent sentences. Sequential sentences. Design examples: combinational circuits, memory elements, registers, counters, state machines.



5- System design with VHDL II

Hierarchical design, use of "packages" and components. Generic components. Design of typical subsystems: arithmetic and logic operations, data paths, control units, memories, etc. Intellectual property blocks (IP blocks). Efficiency, portability and scalability of the code. Design of a digital system of practical interest: specification, synthesis, simulation and implementation on a current device.



6- High-speed architectures

System speed: measurement parameters. High performance architectures. Low latency architectures. Timing and clock signals.



7- Optimization of resources

Reuse of logical resources. Control of the management of resources. Shared logical resources. "RESET" structures: impact on the optimization of the area.



8- Optimization of consumption

Power consumption in CMOS technology. Terms of consumption in CPLDs and FPGAs. Low consumption families. Techniques to reduce consumption in CPLDs and FPGAs.

The subject is taught through lectures (20 h), practicals (10 h) and seminars (5 h). In addition to classroom practicals, the course also includes laboratory practicals (15 h) and computer practicals (10 h). In the first half of the course, theory classes are present the fundamentals of the technology of programmable devices, from the first devices to their current state. The theory classes of the second half are on the VHDL language. With regard to the theoretical part of the course, there are exercises in the design of circuits and digital systems. Periodically a class is devoted to discussing the solutions proposed by the students. Learning is complemented with the design, programming and verification of digital systems of practical interest in the laboratory using computational tools to aid design and development cards. In addition, the eGela tool is used as a means of communicating with students and as a platform for disseminating material and teaching resources.

Además, se utilizará la herramienta Moodle como medio de comunicación con el alumno y como plataforma de difusión de material y recursos docentes.

• Continuous Assessment System
• Final Assessment System
• Tools and qualification percentages:
  • Written test to be taken (%): 60
  • Realization of Practical Work (exercises, cases or problems) (%): 30
  • Team projects (problem solving, project design)) (%): 10

En la evaluación de la asignatura de tipo continuo se valorará:



- Prácticas e informes: 30 %

- Exposición oral de trabajos: 10%

- Prueba escrita individual: 60% de la nota de la asignatura



La prueba escrita constará de problemas a resolver, cuestiones de teoría aplicadas a los problemas propuestos y preguntas relacionadas con las prácticas de laboratorio. La calificación final se obtendrá de la media ponderada de las calificaciones previas, pero es necesario sacar una nota mínima de 5 sobre 10 en la prueba final individual.

Además, la realización de las prácticas de laboratorio es obligatoria para aprobar la asignatura por el sistema de evaluación continua.

A lo largo del curso se irán dando orientaciones de mejora de los trabajos entregados para guiar al alumno en la mejora de posteriores entregas.



Los y las estudiantes que no quieran participar en la evaluación continua deberán solicitar por escrito al responsable de la asignatura la renuncia a la evaluación continua en un plazo de 9 semanas desde el inicio del cuatrimestre.



El sistema de evaluación final consistirá en una prueba escrita individual y un examen de prácticas



- Prueba escrita individual: 60% de la nota de la asignatura

- Examen de prácticas de laboratorio y exposición oral: 40% de la nota



La prueba escrita constará de problemas a resolver y cuestiones de teoría aplicadas a los problemas propuestos. La calificación final se obtendrá de la media ponderada de las calificaciones previas, pero es necesario sacar una nota mínima de 5 sobre 10 en la prueba escrita individual. El examen de prácticas de laboratorio se realizará después de haber aprobado el examen escrito e incluirá la redacción de informes y una exposición oral.



Dado que el peso de la prueba final es superior al 40% de la calificación de la asignatura, bastará con no presentarse a dicha prueba final para que la calificación final de la asignatura sea no presentado o no presentada.

La evaluación de esta asignatura se realizará a través del sistema de evaluación final y conservará los resultados positivos obtenidos en la evaluación continua.

Página WEB de la asignatura en eGela

Basic bibliography

* S. Brown and Z. Vranesic, Fundamentals of digital logic with VHDL design, Mc Graw Hill, 3º ed., 2008, ISBN: 978-0-077-22143-0.

In-depth bibliography

* S. Kilts, ADVANCED FPGA DESIGN: Architecture, Implementation, and Optimization, John Wiley and Sons, 2007, ISBN: 978-0-470-05437-6.
* P.P. Chu, FPGA PROTOTYPING BY VHDL EXAMPLES, John Wiley and Sons, 2008, ISBN: 978-0-470-18531-5.
* P.P. Chu, RTL HARDWARE DESIGN USING VHDL. Coding for Efficiency, Portability, and Scalability, John Wiley and Sons, 2006, ISBN: 978-0-471-72092-8.

Web addresses

* Notas de aplicación y bibliografía específica de los principales fabricantes de dispositivos programables: www.xilinx.com y www.altera.com.