1. ELEC 522: Advanced VLSI Design

Rice University: Fall 2025

2. Credits: 3 credit hours

Lectures: Tuesday and Thursday, 1:00 to 2:20pm

3. Course Instructor: Joe Cavallaro , DCH 3042, cavallar@rice.edu

Lab/teaching Assistant: Phong Tran, DH3041, pt51@rice.edu

4. Office Hours: After class or by appointment

5. Grade Policies: Grading will be based on the projects and presentations assigned during the semester.

6. Absence Policies: Attendance and participation in class is expected. In general, the class on Tuesday is lecture oriented, while the class on Thursday is often focused on design tools and laboratory tutorials.

7. Course Materials:

These recommended books and e-books provide background readings on FGPA design and applications.

• Louise Crockett, Ross Elliot, Martin Enderwitz, Bob Stewart, The Zynq Book, Embedded Processing with the ARM Cortex-A9 on the Xilinx Zynq-7000 All Programmable SoC, Strathclyde Academic Media, 2014, ISBN-13: 978-0-9929787-0-9, E-Book available for download from: http://www.zynqbook.com/
• Ryan Kastner, Janarbek Matai, and Stephen Neuendorffer, Parallel Programming for FPGAs, 2018, E-Book available for download from: http://kastner.ucsd.edu/hlsbook/
• Louise H. Crockett, David Northcote, Craig Ramsay, Fraser D. Robinson, Robert W. Stewart, Exploring Zynq MPSoC With PYNQ and Machine Learning Applications, Strathclyde Academic Media, 2019, ISBN-978-0-9929787-5-4, E-Book available for download from: https://www.zynq-mpsoc-book.com/
• Wayne Wolf, FPGA-Based System Design, Prentice Hall, 2004, ISBN 0-13-142461-0

Emphasis on Chapters 1, 3, 6, 7. http://www.amazon.com/FPGA-Based-System-Design-Prentice-Semiconductor/dp/0131424610/ref=sr_1_3/102-0171952-4496933?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1188319895&sr=1-3

• Walter Tuttlebee, Editor, Software Defined Radio, Baseband Technology for 3G Handsets and Basestations, John Wiley and Sons, 2004, ISBN 0-470-86770-1

Emphasis on Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11. http://www.amazon.com/Software-Defined-Radio-Technologies-Basestations/dp/0470867701/ref=sr_1_2/102-0171952-4496933?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1188320142&sr=1-2

Other supplemental materials: Current papers and design tool tutorials posted to Canvas.

Papers (from IEEE Explore) are on FPGA and ASIP design, and example architectures, including:

• From ASIC to ASIP: The Next Design Discontinuity
• FPGA Architecture: Principles and Progression
• FPGA Acceleration for Big Data Analytics: Challenges and Opportunities
• The Evolution of Domain-Specific Computing for Deep Learning
• Synthesizing General-Purpose Code Into Dynamically Scheduled Circuits
• Communication Processors for Wireless Systems
• Energy and Time-Efficient Matrix Multiplication on FPGAs
• High-Level Synthesis for FPGAs: From Prototyping to Deployment
• FPGA based Embedded Processing Architecture for the QRD-RLS Algorithm
• High-Throughput QR Decomposition for MIMO Detection in OFDM Systems
• International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors 2.0

8. Specific Course Information:

a. Catalog Description: Design and analysis of algorithm-specific VLSI processor architectures. Topics include the implementation of pipelined and systolic processor arrays. Techniques for mapping numerical algorithms onto custom processor arrays. Course includes design project using high-level VLSI synthesis tools.

b. Prerequisites: A course in Digital Systems Design such as ELEC 326/327 is recommended. An introductory course in VLSI System Design is useful. Background in computer architecture, computer arithmetic, and signal processing is also helpful. C++ language programming is useful as well as compiler/debugging tools such as Eclipse and Visual Studio. Basic knowledge of Linux is a plus.

c. Elective Status: ELEC 522 is a graduate elective. Undergraduates may take the course as a Specialization course in Computer Engineering in consultation with their advisor.

d. Projects for Fall 2025 and Presentation: Approximately 6 individual project assignments on ASIC and FPGA Design using the Xilinx System Generator tools, along with Xilinx Vivado tools. Some assignments will use Xilinx Vitis for the Zynq chip for embedded systems. As time permits, we may use Synopsys DC Ultra for ASIC synthesis and the Cadence SOC Encounter tools in the ASIC flow. For System on Chip integration the Xilinx Vitis HLS and Vivado for high level synthesis will be used to connect to the ARM processor in the Xilinx Zynq device. A student presentation will be given in class on progress on several of the projects. Previous year topics have included a systolic array co-processor for matrix factorization and solution of systems of linear equations. A tentative list of projects includes accelerator designs for linear systems:

ELEC_522_Proj_1_Sysgen_Intro / CUDA Intro	ELEC_522_Proj_4_Vivado_HLS_CORDIC
ELEC_522_Proj_2_Matrix_Mult on FPGA / GPU	ELEC_522_Proj_5_QR_Array
ELEC_522_Proj_3_Vivado_HLS_Matrix_Mult	ELEC_522_Proj_6_4x4_Linear_System_Solver

For 2025, we will include project components using GPU programming and acceleration as GPU prototypes are often used in developing FPGA or ASIC accelerators. In addition to standalone programming on the Zynq SoC, we hope to build Linux kernels and device drivers with PetaLinux.

9 Specific Goals for the Course:

a. Outcomes: The goals of the course are to study design methodologies for application-specific processors for applications particularly in wireless communications and machine learning. The course includes a design project initially targeted at an FPGA. The student will be able to specify, design, simulate, assess, and verify custom accelerators and integrate experimentally into a System on Chip (SoC) platform.

b. Course Outcomes: Related to ABET Criterion 3 numbers 1 through 7:

The relationships to seven criteria are listed with 1, 2, and 3. (with 3 as most related.)

1	An ability to identify, formulate, and solve complex engineering problems by applying principles of engineering, science, and mathematics.	3
2	An ability to apply engineering design to produce solutions that meet specified needs with consideration of public health, safety, and welfare, as well as global, cultural, social, environmental, and economic factors.	3
3	An ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences.	1
4	An ability to recognize ethical and professional responsibilities in engineering situations and make informed judgments, which must consider the impact of engineering solutions in global, economic, environmental, and societal contexts.	1
5	An ability to function effectively on a team whose members together provide leadership, create a collaborative and inclusive environment, establish goals, plan tasks, and meet objectives.	2
6	An ability to develop and conduct appropriate experimentation, analyze and interpret data, and use engineering judgment to draw conclusions.	3
7	An ability to acquire and apply new knowledge as needed, using appropriate learning strategies.	1

10: Topics and Course Contents: The topics covered in this course include:

• Design methodology for ASIC and FPGA implementations
• GPU organization and programming using C++ , CUDA and Visual Studio
• FPGA hardware structures and fabrics
• Review of Combinational Logic, Sequential Machines, and Architecture
• High-level VLSI synthesis and design tools including Synopsys, Cadence, Mentor Graphics, with CAD algorithm overview for floorplanning, placement, and routing in ASICs.
• High-level DSP algorithm simulation and code (VHDL/Verilog) generation using Xilinx System Generator, and Xilinx Vivado HLS.
• Design and analysis of algorithm-specific VLSI processor architectures. Topics include the implementation of pipelined and systolic processor structure. Techniques for mapping numerical algorithms onto custom processor arrays, including Application Specific Instruction Processors (ASIPs).
• High-level Design frameworks for systems containing custom and general-purpose units.
• Prototyping using Xilinx System Generator, Xilinx Vitis HLS, Xilinx Vivado, Xilinx Vitis, and Xilinx FPGAs with emphasis on the Xilinx Zynq chip containing ARM core and FPGA fabric.
• Heterogeneous DSP-FPGA-ASIC processors.

Laboratory Use:

We will use the VLSI Digital Design Lab, with the Xilinx ZedBoard and AUP-ZU3 University Development Boards which contains the Xilinx Zynq-7000 or newer chip for the course; the Rice CLEAR Linux cluster for access to a Xilinx Alveo FPGA board, PetaLinux, Synopsys/Cadence VLSI design tools via Xwindows using MobaXterm in addition to the laboratory PCs in RYN B22; Canvas at Rice for notes and project submission. NVIDIA GTX 1660 GPU with CUDA 13 and Visual Studio 2022 Community is available.

11. Rice Honor Code: The Honor Code will apply to individual homework / projects.

Homework / Project Honor Code: Complete homework / project assignments individually. Please list your name on the submitted solution. Solutions submitted after the date and time specified will receive no credit. You may freely use the 2025 course notes or course handouts for the assignments. Students may discuss and compare ideas on the homework / project assignments, but each student must write up solutions individually without resorting to copying. That is, students must not create submissions together; students may discuss problems but may not actually write up their assignments together. You should also not refer to solutions posted on the web or from previous years' classes. Clearly state any assumptions that you make to solve the problems and show all your work. You must clearly list any reference material beyond that provided on Canvas that is used. Each homework / project / presentation may state additional specific details.

Generative AI: Large Language Models, such as ChapGPT have emerged recently. The goal of this course is for students to be able to create their own custom C and Verilog code to develop unique ASICs or FPGA bitfiles as well as the controlling application code. As such, generative AI methods are not to be used in this course.

12. Students with Disabilities: Any student with a disability requiring accommodations in this course is encouraged to contact the instructor after class or during office hours. Additionally, students will need to contact Disability Support Services in the Ley Student Center.

13. Updates: Consult the class Canvas page for updates to information contained in the syllabus.

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Joe Cavallaro Updated 24 August 2025