DIGITAL SYSTEM DESIGN

Dr. Deepa
IT Dept., NITK

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 Motivation
• Microprocessors have revolutionized our world
– Cell phones, internet, rapid advances in
medicine, etc.
• The semiconductor industry has grown from $21
billion in 1985 to $213 billion in 2004.

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 Robert Noyce, 1927 - 1990
• Nicknamed “Mayor of Silicon
Valley”
• Cofounded Fairchild
Semiconductor in 1957
• Cofounded Intel in 1968
• Co-invented the integrated
circuit

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 Gordon Moore, 1929 -
• Cofounded Intel in
1968 with Robert
Noyce.
• Moore’s Law: the
number of transistors
on a computer chip
doubles every year
(observed in 1965)
• Since 1975, transistor
counts have doubled
every two years.
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 Moore’s Law

“If the automobile had followed the same development cycle as the
computer, a Rolls-Royce would today cost $100, get one million
miles to the gallon, and explode once a year . . .”
– Robert Cringley
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 Scope
• The purpose of this course is that we:
– Learn what’s under the hood of an electronic component
– Learn the principles of digital design
– Learn to systematically debug increasingly complex designs
– Design and build a digital system

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 THE IMPORTANCE OF DIGITAL LOGIC
Electronic devices consist of two integrated systems

Software

Programs that control hardware to execute user wishes

To learn how to design this you need to

study Computer Science

Hardware

Circuits that execute the program commands

To learn more about how to design this you need to study Digital Logic Design

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Digital Computers

- Imply that the computer deals with digital information, i.e., it

deals with the information that is represented by binary digits

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Introduction
Logic design is one of the disciplines that has enabled digital revolution,
which has dramatically altered our economics, communication, and life
in general!

Cars are growingly more computers!

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Computers are every-where!

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What is Design?
• Design is the process of coming up with a solution to a problem:
– Need to understand the problem
– Need to understand the constraints

We desire an ‘efficient’ design!

• Consider, the problem of building an university:

– Create an xyz sq ft of floor area, where say 10,000 people can work
efficiently.
– Constraints:
• Dimensions
• Aesthetics
• Departments, rooms
• Other services
• Lifts
• Parking Space
• Emergency Exits…
• Money and Time 11
Divide and Conquer
• A very efficient methodology which humans have developed because of their inability of
handling too many details!
• Divide the problem into sub-problems:
– Associate sub-contractors (Split/Divide)
• Each have their own design problems
• Continues in a recursive fashion
– Merge the solutions (Conquer)
• The chief-architect is responsible for integrating
• Toughest job!
• Good communication and team work is a key!
– It is difficult for the stair-case contractor to ask to change the dimensions of the hall for better
flight.
– Or, to widen the elevator shaft after developing the building.

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 Top-down and Bottom-up Approaches
• Both strategies of information processing and knowledge ordering
• A top down approach breaks up a bigger picture into sub-systems, which are often like
black-boxes, initially.
• A Bottom-up approach starts with systems and connects them together to form bigger
systems.
• Top down approach is about planning, and starts implementations after the complete
picture is clear.
– Delays testing
• Bottom up approach on the other hand stresses on implementation and testing from the
beginning.
– Problem may be integration/linking of modules.
– Good for reuse of design.
• Real life design combines both.

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Facets of Design

Design

Optimization
Creative Process Engineering
Process
(Visualize the Process
(Choosing best
solution) (Explore the
combination
trade-offs, make
among
decisions)
components)

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Digital/Logic Design
• A digital designer uses components from
digital electronics to solve problems in real
life.

• Transistors from CMOS (Complementary

MOS) forms the core.

• A digital designer abstracts it like a switch.

• Circuit: An inter-connected collection of

switches 15
Transistors as Switches: 1st Abstraction

Source

Gate Gate Path • Transmits 1 well

• Transmits 0 poorly
0 Closed
Drain 1 Open
pMOS

Drain

Gate Gate Path

0 Open
• Transmits 0 well
Source 1 Closed • Transmits 1 poorly
nMOS
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CMOS Transmission Gate

• Transmit signal from INPUT to OUTPUT when

Gate is closed

Gate (complementary of Gate)

Gate pMOS nMOS OUTPUT

Source Drain 0 OFF OFF Z
INPUT OUTPUT
1 ON ON INPUT

Z : High-Impedance State,
Gate consider the terminal is “floating”

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An Example
• Problem: Make a two-way switch for a bulb.

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An Example
• Problem: Make a two-way switch for a bulb.

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An Example
• Problem: Make a two-way switch for a bulb.

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An Example
• Problem: Make a two-way switch for a bulb.

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Constraints of a digital design

• Logic designers job is to choose the right components and

connect them to solve the problem meeting:
– Size
– Cost
– Power
– Security

Power
consumption

Secret
information 0 0 1 1 1

http://www.engadget.com/2014/08/23/elect
rical-potential-data-theft/ 22
Cost, Size, Performance
Cost and Size are closely related
• Complexity of a digital circuit depends on:
• Number of components used
• Cost of each component
• Wires used to connect these components

As technology becomes
smaller, routing delays
dominate!

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Moore’s law for Intel Microprocessors

In 1965, Gordon Moore noted that the number of transistors on a chip doubled
every 18 to 24 months.
He made a prediction that semiconductor technology will double its effectiveness
every 18 months
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Source: Evolution of Intel Microprocessors (from Jean Baer, Microprocessor
Architecture, Cambridge University Press)
Some figures
• 1971: Intel 4004, 1.08 MHz, 2,300 transistors
• 2003: Intel Pentium 4, 3.4 GHz, 1.7 billion transistors
– Frequency increases roughly double per 2.5 years
– Number of transistors roughly double every two years (Moore’s Law).
• How will the trend continue in the future?

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 Think of a number between 1 and 15

8 9 10 11 4 5 6 7
12 13 14 15 12 13 14 15

2 3 6 7 1 3 5 7
10 11 14 15 9 11 13 15

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Binary Numbers

Yes = 1 No = 0
• Number 7 appears on the four cards in the pattern
‘No, Yes, Yes, Yes’

• The number 7 in binary code is 0111

• This is the Digital Language!

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 Why binary?

• Information is stored in computer via voltage levels.

• Using decimal would require 10 distinct and reliable levels

for each digit.

• This is not feasible with reasonable reliability and financial

constraints.

• Everything in computer is stored using binary: numbers,

text, programs, pictures, sounds, videos, ...

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Bit, Byte, and Word

0 A bit is a size that can store 1 digit of a binary number, 0 or 1.

0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 A byte is 8 bits, which can store eight 0’s or 1’s.

cont’d

0 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 1

0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 A word is either 32 or 64 bits, depending on

computers. Regular PC’s are 32-bit word in size,
higher-end workstations are 64-bit. Word size is the
size of the registers.

What do these bits mean is a matter of interpretation! All information in a

computer are represented in a uniform format of bit patterns.
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Digital Systems

DIGITAL
CIRCUITS

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