Homework
assignments and Project Information for EE 421 Digital Electronics and
ECG 621 Digital Integrated
Circuit Design, Fall 2016
- Homework guidelines
are found here.
- Note that an A in
front of the problem
indicates an additional problem
from the book’s webpage, not a
problem from the book’s
end–of–chapter problems.
- All simulations, schematics, and layouts should be done using Cadence. Using other tools will result in zero credit.
- Follow the instructions for running an Xterm found here (video)
HW#23 – Show, using simulations, that the sense amplifier in Fig. 16.32 can
fail (sensitivity gets poorer or it fails to operate properly) if the
input voltages are too high or too low, due Wednesday, December 7
HW#22 – A14.1 and A14.3, due Monday, December 5
HW#21 – A13.1 and A13.6, due Wednesday, November 30
No HW assigned, and thus due, on Monday, November 28
HW#20 – A13.1 and A13.2, due Wednesday, November 23
HW#19 – A12.1 and A12.5, due Monday, November 21
HW#18 – A11.11, due Wednesday, November 16.
HW#17 – A11.1–A11.2 (but use the C5 process, again, scale = 600 nm) and
layout a 25–stage ring oscillator using 12u/0.6um PMOS and 6u/0.6u
NMOS. Turn in a concise schematic and the layout with indication of
passing DRC and LVS. Due Monday, November 14.
HW#16 – A10.4 but use the C5 process with a scale factor of 0.6 um (a
10/1 device is 6um/0.6um). Also, in your own words describe an
inverter's voltage transfer curve including how the beta ratio
influences switching point, VOH, VOL, NMH, and NML. What is the ideal
switching point voltage and ideal voltage transfer curve for an
inverter? Due Monday, November 7.
HW#15 – Using the C5 proces with 3/0.6 devices work A10.9. Estimate the
delay, in the C5 process, of a 6/0.6 PMOS and NMOS charging/discharging
a 1 pF capacitor. Verify your answer with SPICE (Spectre). Due
Wednesday, November 2.
HW#14 – A10.1–A10.3 but use the C5 process with 6/0.6 devices. Due Monday, October 31.
HW#13 – A bandgap reference circuit is a circuit that generates a reference
voltage that doesn't vary (much) with changes in power supply voltage
and temperature. For the course projects we'll use the bandgap circuit,
designed for the C5 process, found in bandgap.zip.
For HW#13, run the simulations found in this design directory and
comment to show that you understand what the simulations show, that is,
the circuit's limitations (e.g., how low can the power supply go before
the bandgap output voltage drops? how much does the reference voltage
change with temperature? how does the diode's voltage change with
temperature, how much current does the bandgap circuit draw?, etc.). Turn in these simulation plots with comments at the
beginning of class on Wednesday, October 26. In addition to this, lay out the bandgap reference circuit, again, for use in your course projects,
making sure that your layout DRCs and LVSs without errors. Email your
zipped–up bandgap directory (don't change the name, that is, it should
still be "bandgap.zip"), now with the layout of the bandgap, to the
course TA for grading (so she can determine if your layout DRCs and LVSs) before the beginning of class on Wednesday, October 26.
HW#12 – A6.10–A6.15. Due Wednesday, October 12.
HW#11 – A6.9, and suppose an RC circuit is formed using a 30 um x 30 um NMOS
device in the C5 process and a 100k resistor, see the topology in Fig.
6.20 of the book. If the MOSFET is biased in strong inversion with a DC
voltage source estimate the resulting circuit's 3–dB frequency. Show
your estimate is correct using an AC simulation (frequency on the
x–axis). Then, using a transient simulation (time on the x–axis), show
that a small–amplitude input sinewave at the 3–dB frequency will result
in a output sinewave at 0.707 times the amplitude. Due Monday, October
10.
HW#10 – A6.5, A6.6, and layout, DRC, and LVS NMOS devices having a W/L of
3u/9u and 90u/0.6u (with 5 fingers). Due Wednesday, October 5.
HW#9 – A5.4, A6.2, generate a schematic for the RC circuit show in Fig.
1.24 having pins Vin and Vout. Using a symbol view for this schematic
simulate the operation of the circuit as seen in Fig. 1.24. Using a
poly1 resistor and a poly–poly capacitor lay out this circuit. DRC and
LVS your design. Finally, generate IV plots (ID v. VSG and VGS, and ID
v. VSD and VDS for varying VSG and VGS) for both the NMOS and PMOS
devices in the C5 process sized 6u/0.6u (= W/L). Due Monday, October 3.
HW#8 – A4.5 and layout, DRC, and LVS a 2 pF poly–poly capacitor and a 10k resistor using poly2 (elec) using
the hi–res mask (to block the doping of poly2 so it's sheet resistance
is high). Use the LVS tool to determine the sheet resistance of hi–res
poly2. Show your hand calculations for determining the size of the capacitor and resistor. Due Wednesday, September 28.
HW#7 – A3.10, A4.1, A4.4, and layout a 6u/0.6u (= W/L) NMOS device connected to 4 bond pads. DRC and LVS your layouts (see Tutorial 2 and Tutorial 6). Due Monday, September 26.
HW#6 – A3.4 and A3.8. Due Wednesday, September 21
HW#5 – A3.2, A3.5, and layout a (roughly) 1.5 mm x 1.5 mm padframe
(1,500 um x 1,500 um) in the C5 process using 75 um square bond pads
(see Tutorial 6).
Show a schematic and symbol for your padframe. Show the details of your
bond pad including a screen shot of the size using the ruler, the glass
layer, the metal3 layer, and the pad layer as the outline of the cell.
Also show a screen shot of your padframe showing the size using the
ruler. Due Monday, September 19.
HW#4 – A2.5, and then design, layout, and simulate an attenuator circuit,
using n–well resistors, that takes a 0 to 5V input signal and generates
two outputs, one that goes from 0 to 2.5 and another that goes from 0
to 1 V. In other words, when the input to the circuit is 5V, one output
is 2.5V and the other output is 1V. If the input is 2.5V then one
output is 1.25 and the other output is 0.5V. Turn
in images of: your basic resistive divider schematic, the symbol for
your schematic, simulation schematic using the symbol, simulation
results, layout of your cell, and images showing DRC and LVS were
passed, that is, 7 images on no more than 3 pages. Due Wednesday, September 14
HW#3 – A2.1, A2.2, and go through Cadence Tutorial 1 but
use 20k n–well resistors instead of 10k resistors. Turn in
images of: your basic resistive divider schematic, the symbol for your
schematic, simulation schematic using the symbol, simulation
results, layout of your cell, and images showing DRC and LVS were
passed, that is, 7 images on no more than 3 pages. Due, Monday, September 12
HW#2 – A1.1, A1.3, A1.13, and A1.21 due, Wednesday, September 7
HW#1 – Sketch, on the same time–domain plot, Vin and Vout for each (two
sketches and two sets of hand calculations) of Figs. 1.21 and 1.22 if
the capacitor from Vout to ground is increased to 2 uF. Verify your
hand calculated answers for each sketch using Cadence simulations. Make
sure your hand calculations and comparisons are clear and concise (in
other words follow the homework guidelines). Note that the purpose of
this homework assignment is to ensure that you can run Cadence and
follow the HW guidelines. Due Wednesday, August 31
Course projects – Read
the policy on the course webpage concerning turning in late work. These
projects are NOT group efforts. What you turn in should be your own
work.
Your project report should detail:
- The reasons for the topology you selected including design considerations
- Hand calculations, where possible, with comparisons to simulations
- A pin diagram for the design's layout (how to connect the layout to bond pads if we fabricate the design)
- Clear layout documentation (zoomed in and outlines of the layout for easy grading).
- Layout should
be easy to understand (orderly and labeled). While tight layouts are
desirable it's more important to provide clear layouts.
- Email me your (*clean*) zipped–up design directory (that I can place in my CMOSedu directory) file and project report in PDF format.
- I should be able to figure out what to simulate and how to simulate it without any effort (make sure this is very clear!)
- I’ll perform an LVS and a DRC on what you send (so make sure everything is clean before emailing me!)
- One
common error, that will make you lose a larger number of points, is
sending me a directory that isn't self–contained, that is, references a
cell in some other directory in your account (that I obviously don't
have access to) so I can't simulate your design.
- I should receive the electronic report and zipped–up directory of your design via email (r.jacob.baker@unlv.edu)
prior to the beginning of class (4 pm) on Monday, November 28, 2016.
Recieving the project via email at 4:01 pm or later will result in a 0.
EE 421/ECG 621 project – The course project is to design a CMOS switching power supply, a synchronous Buck converter, that is powered with a VDD
that can vary from 4 to 5.5 V. The power supply uses an off–chip
inductor and capacitor to generate a constant output voltage of 2.5 V, which we'll call Vout below,
for load currents ranging from 0 to 100 mA.
- In bandgap.zip is a bandgap voltage reference schematic designed for the C5 process. A bandgap is
a common circuit used for generating a voltage reference of
approximately 1.25 V that doesn’t change [much] with temperature and
VDD variations. The first part of this project is lay out this bandgap. You shold have already done this in HW#13. Note that I’ve already laid out the parasitic pnp device (the diode) and there are example layouts, for LVSing, in this zip file.
- The second part of the project is to design a circuit that senses an input voltage Vin (this input is connected to the output voltage of the power supply, Vout, for feedback and control). Your design should use the bandgap from part 1. The output (called Enable) of the circuit is a logic 1 (vdd) when Vin is greater than 2.5 V and a logic 0 (ground) when Vin is less than 2.5 V. The circuit’s input, Vin, should draw no more than 50 uA of current and no less than 10 uA of current. A practical design concern pops–up when Vin
is near 2.5 V, which it will be in these projects. What will happen, if
the circuit isn't designed correctly, is that the signal Enable will oscillate since Vin
is moving slightly above and below 2.5 V. To avoid these oscillations,
design your circuit with a small amount of hysteresis.
- Hysteresis
is found in a thermostat controlling your home’s A/C. If you have your
thermostat set at 78 degrees your A/C may kick on when the temperature
gets to 79 and then shut off when the house cools down to 77 (2 degrees
of hysteresis). This keeps the A/C from cycling on and off and thus
avoids high–frequency oscillations.
- You need to make an engineering design decision on how much hysteresis is appropriate. You'll see that too much will result in Vin
(connected to Vout) varying too much. Too little hysteresis will result in
high–frequency oscillations and poor efficiency. Note that you will be
able to implement hysteresis by adding delay to the output of this
sensing circuit, but hysteresis due to delay won't show up in a DC simulation. You'll see it in a transient simulation.
- Your report, among other things, should show DC sweeps (Vin v. Enable), with varying temperature/VDD,
the performance of your design, again with varying temperature/VDD,
using transient simulations (not DC simulations). Your design
considerations (trade–offs), as mentioned above, should also be
concisely detailed.
- Note
that your overall design can't be simulated using a DC simulation
because, for proper operation, the output must be switching (hence the
name "switching regulator") which can't occur in a DC sweep. Also note
that you will likely have to set the output voltage, that is Vout,
initial condition to 0. See why and how it was done in Tutorial 5
for ring oscillator so that the feedback circuit oscillates and works
properly (in a real circuit noise starts the oscillations, in a
simulation we have to help the oscillations start).
- Use your design from part 2, that is, using Enable, to drive buffers (inverters) that enable/disable a PMOS switch connected between VDD and cell's output, out, and an NMOS switch connected between the cell's output, out,
and ground. Your report, among other items, should discuss your
thoughts on device sizing. Ensure the buffer you design has a
lock–out feature, see Fig. 14.9, to ensure that the PMOS and NMOS are
never on at the same time to avoid cross–over current.
- The CMOS synchronous Buck switching power supply you are designing will be connected in 4 places: VDD, gnd, out, and Vout.
What you LVS and DRC will be this cell; however, you will need to
simulate this cell (generate a symbol view of your final design
having 4 pins, or 2 pins if using global vdd! and gnd!) with
the off–chip inductor and capacitor (the inductor and capacitor are not
part of what we send out for fabrication). The output of your design, out, is connected to the inductor. The other side of the inductor is connected to Vout (the inductor is connected between out and Vout). The capacitor is connected from Vout
to ground. Your
report should detail your selection of the inductor and capacitor along
with simulation results showing performance with varying temperature
and power supply (plot your design's efficiency vs load current with
different temperatures and power supply voltages). Of course, again,
you need to also provide the details indicated above. Note that
efficiency, E, can be calculated using E = (Vout * Iload)/(VDD * AVG(I(VDD))) where AVG(I(VDD)) is the average (see page 4 here) current flowing the power supply, VDD.
- This
efficiency calculation assumes that Vout, VDD, and Iload are DC values.
Make sure only steady-state (no start-up waveforms) are present in
I(VDD) when you use the calculator (see link below for help) to
calculate the average else your calculations will be incorrect.
For example, to ensure that no start-up waveforms are present in the
waveforms you may use .tran 50u 200u (a 200u simulation that starts
saving data at 50u, again an example).
- For students in ECG 621 your design should employ zero–voltage switching (ZVS) to increase efficiency.
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