CS523: Digital Circuits Design Lab Using EDA Tools (Spring 2026)
Department of Computer Science, University of Crete
Schedule
Class hours: Tuesday and Thursday 17.15 - 19.00 in room A.125
Office hours: By Appointment @ K319
Staff
| Instructors | Teaching Assistants |
| Prof. Vassilis Papaefstathiou | Mr. Michalis Giaourtas (FORTH) |
| Mr. Theocharis Vavouris (FORTH) |
Course Information
| Area: |
Microelectronic Systems Architecture (A)
Computer Architecture and Microelectronics (A1) |
| Description: | Electronic Design Automation (EDA) flows and Computer Aided Design (CAD) tools for digital circuit design. Advanced features of Hardware Description Languages (Verilog, VHDL). Behavioral and structural models. Simulation: algorithms and tools. Timing analysis. Design verification: input stimuli, output checking, simulations with models at different abstraction levels. Digital circuit testing and design for testability (DFT). Synthesizable description and logic synthesis tools (e.g. Xilinx Vivado, Synopsys Design Compiler). Placement and Routing: tools and techniques. Incremental design flows (back-annotation, ECO, LVS). Examples on FPGA and ASIC technologies. Using available IP cores to build System-on-Chip (SoC). Laboratory assignments on designing and verifying digital systems of medium complexity using the presented tools and flows for multiple target technologies (FPGA and ASIC). |
| ECTS: | 6 |
| Prerequisites: |
CS220 - Digital Circuits Lab
CS225 - Computer Organization |
| Grading: |
Lab Assignments: 30%
Project: 60% Class Participation: 10% |
| Mailing-list: | hy523 at list dot csd dot uoc dot gr |
We deeply appreciate the strong support provided to this course by the Computer Architecture and VLSI Systems (CARV) Laboratory of the Institute of Computer Science of FORTH through human resources and training of students on state-of-the-art EDA tools.
Course material will be made available only on the internal website accessible from the university's subnet.
Lectures Schedule (Tentative)
| Date | Description | Material | Reading List |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week 01: 09 Feb. - 13 Feb. 2026 | Introduction to Design Flows | ||
| Week 02: 16 Feb. - 20 Feb. 2026 | Hardware Description Languages (SystemVerilog) | ||
| Week 03: 22 Feb. - 27 Feb. 2026 | Advanced HDL Features (SystemVerilog) | ||
| Week 04: 02 Mar. - 06 Mar. 2026 | Functional Verification (SystemVerilog & UVM) | ||
| Week 05: 09 Mar. - 13 Mar. 2026 | Simulation: Algorithms and Tools | ||
| Week 06: 16 Mar. - 20 Mar. 2026 | Logic Synthesis | ||
| Week 07: 23 Mar. - 27 Mar. 2026 | Static Timing Analysis | ||
| Week 08: 30 Mar. - 03 Apr. 2026 | Design for Testability | ||
| 06 Apr. - 19 Apr. 2026 | Easter Holiday Weeks | ||
| Week 09: 20 Apr. - 24 Apr. 2026 | Floorplanning and Power Planning | ||
| Week 10: 27 Apr. - 01 May 2026 | Placement | ||
| Week 11: 04 May - 08 May 2026 | Routing | ||
| Week 12: 11 May - 15 May 2026 | Power Optimization | ||
| Week 13: 18 May - 22 May 2026 | Physical Verification |
Laboratory Assignments (Tentative)
| Date | Description | Material | Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week 04 | Lab 1: SystemVerilog Testbenches | Week 06 | |
| Week 07 | Lab 2: Logic Synthesis | Week 08 | |
| Week 09 | Lab 3: Physical Design and Implementation | Week 11 | |
| Week 10 | Student Projects | Week 13 |
Websites from Previous Years
- Spring 2025 (taught by V. Papaefstathiou)
- Spring 2024 (taught by V. Papaefstathiou)
- Spring 2023 (taught by V. Papaefstathiou)
- Spring 2022 (taught by V. Papaefstathiou)
- Spring 2021 (taught by V. Papaefstathiou)
- Spring 2020 (taught by V. Papaefstathiou)
- Spring 2019 (taught by V. Papaefstathiou)
- Spring 2018 (taught by V. Papaefstathiou)
- Fall 2012 (taught by C. Sotiriou)
- Fall 2011 (taught by C. Sotiriou)
- Fall 2010 (taught by C. Sotiriou)
- Fall 2008 (taught by C. Sotiriou)
Last update: 5 Feb. 2026 - by V. Papaefstathiou