ELECTRONIC SYSTEMSModule MOD.A ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS
Academic Year 2026/2027 - Teacher: ALFIO DARIO GRASSOExpected Learning Outcomes
The course aims to introduce students of the Master of Science in Electrical Engineering in the issues related to the design and development of electronic systems. The term "system" is intended as a set of passive and active electronic components, even complex, suitably interconnected and resident on one or more printed circuit boards. The course also aims to illustrate the design flow that allows to pass from the transistor level to complex electronic system.
Knowledge and understanding
The course provides the theoretical and methodological framework for the modelling, design and validation of complex digital electronic systems, intended as sets of active and passive components interconnected on one or more printed circuit boards. The student will know: the main architectures of arithmetic circuits (data path) and the design methodology of the control path; the circuit topologies used for the coding, conditioning, processing and storage of information in a digital system; the design flow of an electronic system across abstraction levels (full-custom, semi-custom, standard-cell, PLD/FPGA, platform-based design) and the related VLSI design metrics (die cost, yield); the technology and physical design of multilayer printed circuit boards, together with the packaging and technology of active and passive components; the criteria for the selection of active and passive components and for their interconnection (propagation delay, capacitive crosstalk, signal and power integrity, electromagnetic compatibility); the issues related to the distribution and management of supply energy within the system (power/ground distribution network, supply noise, bypass networks); the CAD/EDA tools for the description, simulation, synthesis and validation of a digital system and for the physical design of printed circuit boards.
At the end of the course the student will be able to: 1. design the data path and the control path of a digital electronic system, also by means of VHDL; 2. design a multilayer printed circuit board and its power/ground distribution network, using CAD tools for physical design; 3. design at system level a complex electronic system, also through the use of microcontrollers and FPGAs, developing dedicated hardware and firmware modules; 4. verify and validate a design through simulation, corner analysis and Monte Carlo simulations, assessing its robustness against PVT variability; 5. justify and critically evaluate, starting from technical specifications, the choice of components and technological solutions adopted.
Making judgements
Starting from technical specifications, the student will be able to design electronic systems using different levels of abstractions. Numerical exercises, computer simulations and the development of design projects will refine the making judgement skill.
Communication skills
The student will improve the technical language of electronic systems and will be able to interact with colleagues of a teamwork to discuss the proper solutions to a specific design problem. To this aim, during the laboratory lessons, students will be grouped in small teams. The reports and the oral exam will also help to refine technical language and communication skills.
Learning skills
Students can broaden their knowledge of electronic systems through the study of recommended textbooks or scientific papers published on specialized journals and through the ideas offered by the seminars organized within the course.
Course Structure
The course includes 42 hours of lectures and 30 of CAD/CAE-assisted numerical exercises. Seminars held by researchers and designers from industries operating in the electronics sector will be also organized.
Should teaching be carried out in mixed mode or remotely, it may be necessary to introduce changes with respect to previous statements, in line with the program planned and outlined in the syllabus.
Required Prerequisites
Attendance of Lessons
Detailed Course Content
2. Boolean algebra and mapping methods (
3. Arithmetic processing circuits and subsystems (
4. State machine design (
5. Design flow of an electronic system (
6. Design metrics of VLSI systems (
7. Printed Circuit Boards: technology and design (
8. Simulation and synthesis with VHDL (
9. Introduction to microcontrollers (
The topics covered in the course and the acquired knowledge are directly or indirectly aimed at the development of sustainable technological solutions, as well as contributing to a high quality education, in accordance with Goals 4, 7, 9, 12, of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Textbook Information
2. J. Rabaey, A. Chandrakasan, B.Nikolic, Digital Integrated Circuits (2nd ed.), Prentice Hall, 2003.
3. D.J. Comer, Digital Logic & State Machine Design (3rd ed.), Oxford University Press, 1995.
4. H. Johnson, M. Graham, High Speed Digital Design: A Handbook of Black Magic, Prentice Hall, 1993
5. J. Davies, MSP430 Microcontroller Basics, Elsevier, 2008.
Course Planning
| Subjects | Text References | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Course introduction. Evolution of electronic systems. General architecture of an electronic system | course notes |
| 2 | Boolean logic. Karnaugh maps. | Textbook 3: chap. 2 |
| 3 | Architecture of a processor: data path and control path. Numerical representation in digital electronic systems. Adders: full adder, mirror adder. | Textbook 1: chap. 11 Textbook 2: chap. 11 |
| 4 | Manchester carry chain. Ripple carry adder, carry bypass adder, carry select adder, carry lookahead adder, Kogge&Stone adder, Brent&Kung adder. Array multiplier, carry save multiplier, Booth multiplier. Shifters. | Textbook 2: chap. 11; course notes |
| 5 | State machine design. Mealy and Moore models. Synchronous counters. ASM representation. Input and output forming logic design. State coding. | Textbook 3: chap. 5, 6, 7 |
| 6 | Design flow of an electronic system: abstraction levels, design methodology and tools, custom-, semi-custom- and standard-cell-based design. Programmable logic devices: PLA, PAL, CPLD, FPGA. Platform-based design. | Textbook 2: chap. 8; course notes |
| 7 | Design metric of integrated electronics: die cost. Interconnection engineering: propagation delay model, capacitive crosstalk. Power supply noise: causes and countermeasures. Design of a bypass capacitive network. | Textbook 2: chap. 9; Textbook 1: chap. 6, 7, 13 |
| 8 | Robustness of an integrated electronic system: PVT variability, corner analysis, Monte Carlo simulations. | Textbook 1: chap. 7; course notes |
| 9 | Printed Circuit Boards: design and technology. Package of active and passive devices. Technology of passive components: resistors, capacitors, thermistors, ferrite beads, varistors, TVS. | course notes; Textbook 4: chap. 4, 5 |
| 10 | Signal and power integrity of PCBs. Propagation delay of signals on PCB. Electromagnetic compatibility principles. | course notes; Textbook 4: chap. 4, 5 |
| 11 | Simulation and synthesis of digital electronic systems with VHDL. Entity, architecture, configuration, package, testbench. Delay models, concurrent statements, processes. State machine design with VHDL. | course notes;Textbook 1: Appendix A |
| 12 | Introduction to microcontrollers. TI MSP430 microcontrollers. Register-based configuration. Peripherals: I/O, UART, ADC. Interrupts. | Textbook 5: chap. 1, 2, 5, 8 |
| 13 | Timers and watchdog. | Textbook 5: chap. 1, 2, 5, 8 |
Learning Assessment
Learning Assessment Procedures
Learning assessment is verified through the final exam. This consists of an oral exam and the evaluation of 4 practical homeworks to be submitted during the course (60% of the final grade). The students who will not be able to submit the 4 homeworks during the course will be assigned a project that will be worth 60% of the final grade. The project report must be delivered to the teacher's email address at least one week before the beginning of the first session of exams. Assessment criteria of the homeworks/project include: depth of analysis, correctness and originality of the design solutions, ability to justify and critically evaluate the adopted technological solutions, clarity.
The oral exam consists of three questions on three course topics. In the answers, the student must demonstrate adequate understanding, mastery of the topics discussed and clarity of presentation. The average duration of the oral exam is 40 minutes. The oral exam is worth of 40% of the final grade.
Learning assessment may also be carried out on-line, should the conditions require it.
To ensure equal opportunities and in compliance with current laws, interested students may request a personal interview in order to plan any compensatory and/or dispensatory measures based on educational objectives and specific needs. Students can also contact the CInAP (Centro per l’integrazione Attiva e Partecipata - Servizi per le Disabilità e/o i DSA) referring teacher within the department (proff. Antonella Di Stefano e Arturo Pagano
Examples of frequently asked questions and / or exercises
- Implementation of a synchronous counter
- Mirror adder
- Carry lookahed adder
- Propagation delay model of an interconnection of an IC
- Supply noise
- Design of a supply bypass nwtwork
- Choice of number and position of layers of a PCB