Course Description and Requirement

This course is intended for students who have taken ECE271 and ECE251, and would like to expand their understanding of the basic techniques in computer design.  It would also be useful to students and engineers alike who would like to gain some experience in experimenting with modern digital design techniques.

During this course, students will learn how to design complex digital circuits step by step from the basic elements, such as the FET transistor, to a complex arithmetic logic unit.  Due to the nature of modern computer design techniques and the time period allowed for the course, most of the experiments in this course are concentrated on modern digital design techniques.  Students are expected to spend more time on topics, such as switching speed, race condition, and so on, which are related to digital circuit design.

Each experiment is designed to fulfill certain objectives which are set for that particular laboratory session. Students are expected to perform all the experiments during the laboratory session and finish off a laboratory report before the following laboratory session.  In order to be efficient during the limited 3 hours laboratory session, students are required to read the laboratory manual for that particular session and complete all the necessary preparation before attending the laboratory session.  Pre-laboratory preparation includes, analysis and design of  the circuits as indicated in the laboratory manual.

All experiments requiring observation of signals with oscilloscopes should be conducted with scopes having sufficient bandwidth for the tasks.  Also 10x probes should be used to minimize loading.