Wednesday, 22 April 2020

Implement the inverter using nand/NOR gate

Before implementing the logic, we will have a look at the truth table of the NAND gate and the inverter.

NAND GATE

A B O
0 0 1
0 1 1
1 0 1
1 1 0

NOT GATE

A O
0 1
1 0

Fro the NAND gate truth table we can conclude the following
When both the inputs are zero(0) ==> output is 1 (same as inverter)
when both the inputs are one(1) ==> output is 0 (same as inverter)

Thus we can implement the not gate by connecting the both inputs together as shown below

There is another way of implementation of inverter using NAND gate , from truth table when input pin A is high (logic one) Nand gate behavious as INVERTER



Before implementing the logic, we will have a look at the truth table of the NOR gate and the inverter.

NOR GATE

A B O
0 0 1
0 1 0
1 0 0
1 1 0

NOT GATE

A O
0 1
1 0

case I:
From the NOR truth table we can see that when
both the inputs are zero(0) ==> output is 1(same as inverter)
both the inputs are one (1) ==> output is 0 (same as inverter)




Case II :
second way of implementation of Inverter using Nor Gate.




Wednesday, 15 April 2020

Different ways of Digital design representation

A digital design can be represented at various levels from three different angles

  • Behavioral
  • Structural
  • Physical

This can be represented by Y chart


Behavioral Representation

  • Specifies how a particular should respond to a given set of inputs
  • May be specified by
    -Boolean Equations
    -Tables of input and output values
    -Algorithms written in standard HLL like C/C++
    -Algoriths written in special HDL like verilog or VHDL or CHISEL

Example:


———————————–An Algorithm level of description of carry(Cy)———————————-
module carry (cy, a,b,c);
input a,b,c;
output cy;
assign cy = (a&b)|(a&c)|(b&c);
endmodule

——————————Boolean behavioral specification for carry (cy)————————————
primitive carry (cy,a b,c);
input a,b,c;
output cy;
table
// a b c : cy
   1 1 ? : 1 ;
   1 ? 1 : 1 ;
   ? 1 1 : 1 ;
   0 0 ? : 0 ;
   0 ? 0 : 0 ;
   ? 0 0 : 0 ;
endtable
endprimitive

Structural Representation

  • Specifies how components are interconnected
  • In general, the description is a list of modules and their interconnects
    – called Netlist
    – can be represented at various levels
  • At Structural Level, levels of abstraction are:
    – The module (functional) level
    – The Gate level
    – The switch level
    – The circuit level

Example:
——————————————–Structural Representation—————————————–
module carry (cy , a, b, c);
input a, b, c;
output cy;
wire w1,w2,w3;
  and g1 (w1, a, b);
  and g2 (w2, a, c);
  and g3 (w3, b, c);
  or g4 (cy, w1,w2,w3);
endodule

Physical Representation

  • The lowest level of physical specification
    – Photo-mask information required by various processing steps in the fabrication process.
  • At the module level, the physical layout for the adder may be defined by a rectangle or polygon, and collection of ports

Example:
———————————————–Physical representation————————————————-
A possible (partial) physical description of 4 bit adder

module adder4 ;
input [3:0] a,b;
input c;
output [3:0] s;
output cy;
boundary [0 0 130 500];
port x[0] aluminum width = 1 origin = [0,35];
port y[0] aluminum width = 1 origin = [0,85];
port c polysilicon width = 2 origin = [70,0];
port s[0] aluminum width = 1 origin = [120,65];

add a0 orgin =[0 , 0];
add a1 orgin =[0 ,120];
endmodule

Wednesday, 8 April 2020

Simplistic view of ASIC DESIGN flow

Steps in design flow

  • Behavioral Design
    • Specifies the functionality of the chip
  • Data path Design
    • Generates the netlist for the register transfer level components
  • Logic Design
    • Generate the netlist of Gates/Flip-Flops or Standard cells
  • Physical Design
    • Generate the final layout
  • Manufacturing the chip in Fabrication unit

Some more Intermediate steps are required during the Design flow.

  • Simulation for Verification
    • It should be carried out at various levels, which includes: Logic level, Switch level, Circuit level
  • Formal Verification
    • Logical equivalence check will be carried at various levels, to check core design was not disturbed.
    • LEC/Formal Verification on the design was done between
      -RTL and Synthesised Netlist
      -Synthesized Netlist and DFT inserted Netlist
      -MBIST Inserted Netlsit and Synthesized Netlist, etc
  • Testability analysis and Pattern Generation
    • Required to test the manufactured Devices

Wednesday, 1 April 2020

chisel:Registers

In digital design, register are the basic elements which are used widely. Chisel provides a register , which is collection of D Flip Flops. The register is connected to a clock and the output of the register updates on every rising edge. When an initialization value is provided at the declaration of thr register, it uses a synchronous reset connected to reset signal. A register can be any chisel type that can be represented as a collection of bits.

Below line defines an 8 bit register, initialized with 0 at reset:
val reg = RegInit(0.U(8.W))

An input is connected to the register with the := update operator and the output of the register can be used just with the name in an expression

reg := d
val q = reg

A register can also be connected to its input at the definition:

val nextReg = RegNext(d)

A register can also be initialized during the definition:

val bothReg = RegNext(d, 0.U)

Physical Cells :TAP CELLS, TIE CELLS, ENDCAP CELLS, DECAP CELLS

Tap Cells (Well Taps) :  These library cells connect the power and ground connections to the substrate and n­wells, respectively.  By plac...