Course Grading

Grade Computation

Your course grade will be based on your performance on your projects and your final project by the following percentages:

I am personally hoping that the need for any quizes or exams are not needed. That includes that all students work hard to learn the material, so that individual evaluations are not necessary. In the case that I find such measurement instruments necessary for this class, I reserve the right to add such exams to the course. From data collected in previous semesters, most (if not all) students would prefer no quizes or exams. I will make available previous quiz questions electronically as well as other interesting AVLSI questions. These problems are intended to aid students in their preparation for the projects.

Grade Components

Projects (design and Final projects): A key part of the Analog IC design, and in particular Neuromorphic Analog VLSI design, experience is the electrical measurements of integrated circuits. We do not want this class to degenerate into a theoretical discussion about circuit analysis.

These projects will involve experimental data from FPAA boards. All of these projects are designed to gve the necessary data, circuit experience, and FPAA experience needed to be successful in the design projects.

These projects should be completed in groups of 2. I expect no two students will work on all the same projects. I leave everyone to self organize, but if I see overly predictable clustering, I will move to change up some of the groups.

Projects will only have electronic submissions. Will expect to see starting Simulink / SPICE / targeting file for the particular implementation, a nicely drawn circuit (not CADENCE) for each problem, and the resulting experimental data. When I ask for a single figure, I expect 1 figure; breaking it into 4 figures will result in no credit. Experimental data should be processed in MATLAB unless you have explicitly asked permission ahead of time.

During the beginning weeks of the course, we will have the first project as more of an analysis project, which are designed to quickly get everyone up to speed on basics of transistor circuits and basics of hands on use of FPAA experimental infrastructure. These assignments are critical to the larger design projects, and therefore we start this direction immediately.

More detailed project information is on a separate web page.