Tinoosh Mohsenin – CAD Design of Digital VLSI Systems I EN.520.691/520.49 (Spring – 2026)
- Instructor Prof. Tinoosh Mohsenin Barton 309, tinoosh@jhu.edu
- Office Hours By Appointment
- Lecture MW 10:30am-11:45am Room : Hodson Hall 303
- Teaching Assistant: Mozhgan Navardi, mnavard1@jhu.edu
- Office Hours : Barton 117, Friday 11 AM-12 PM
Course Readings/ Tutorials
| Paper/Tutorial | Comments |
| https://www.edaplayground.com | EDA Playground is a free web application that allows users to edit, simulate, and synthesize HDL code. |
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gExBBwRfu3k | A simple introduction to how EDA Playground works. |
| https://www.edaplayground.com/x/HjXK | Example Code for a D Flip Flop and Test Bench. |
| eda_sim_tutorial_edit.mp4 | Video Tutorial for Simulation using a Verilog Example and Testbench. |
| cadence xcelium sim tutorial | Video Tutorial for Cadence Xcelium Simulation using a Flip Flop Example |
| genus tutorial | Video Tutorial for Genus using Flip Flop Example |
| copy_template.sh | script to copy template/example project |
| Flip Flop example tutorial | Learn how to copy the Flip Flop example to your server |
| Linux basic commands | Tutorial on Linux basic command which is useful for working with Cadance on server |
| pnr_steps_updated-no block.pdf pnr_flow_slides.pdf | Tutorial on place and route |
Homework / Projects
All future dates tentative until HW’s/project assigned.
| Number | Due Date | Homework/ Project grade(%) | Material covered and additional files |
| 1 | Tuesday, Feb 3rd | HW1-ALU.pdf | |
| 2 | Sunday, Feb 16th | HW2_Add_Module.pdf HW2-synthesis.pdf | |
| 3 phase 1 | Sunday, Mar 1st | HW3-RGBConverter.pdf Homework Explanation(.mp4) Additional Files: Tutorial for Post Synthesis Simulations (.pdf) RGB to BW code (.m) Image to Matrix code (.py) Picture to Matrix code (.m) Design Block Diagram (picture) Parrot (picture) | |
| 3 phase 2 | Tuesday, Mar 10th | ||
| 3 phase 3 | Saturday, Mar 21st | pnr_steps_updated-no block.pdf pnr_flow_slides.pdf | |
| Final Project phase 1 | VLSI_Final_Project_SP2026.pdf | ||
| Final Project phase 2 |
Course Topics and Lecture Slides
Future details are tentative.
| Date | Lecture | Notes | Logistics |
| 01/21/2026 | Introduction slides | ||
| 01/26/2026 | Verilog slides | Slides with helpful Verilog Syntax from Prof. Paul Jackson at Princeton University | |
| 01/28/2026 | 1. Sign slides 2. Fixed Point slides 3. Types of statements slides | 1. Number representation and sign extension 2. Fixed point number representation. 3. More Verilog Examples, Blocking nonblocking statement | |
| 02/02/2026 | Registers and Clocks and Resets slides | Explaining how Registers and Clocks and Resets work | |
| 02/11/2026 | Numeric basics slides | Slides from reference book along with Verilog examples (covers numeric basics, Adders, Multi-input adder) | |
| 02/13/2025 | Synthesize TCL VCD_slides Cost_slides Load_slides Library_slides Constraints_slides | Explain different parts of a Synthesize TCL file to understand the commands | |
| 02/16/2026 | Timing Analysis slides | Overview of Timing Analysis in the digital circuit | |
| 02/16/2026 | Power Analysis slides | Analysis and Estimation of Power Consumption in VLSI Design | |
| 02/18/2026 | Registers and Testbench slides | Modeling Registers with additional Reset or Enable signals | |
| 02/18/2026 | State Machines slides | State Machines and example with Verilog | |
| 02/23/2026 | Squaring slides | explain Squaring operation | |
| 02/23/2026 | Other Multipliers slides | Fixed Input Multipliers | |
| 02/25/2026 | Memories slides | Overview of Memories | |
| 02/25/2026 | Memories Examples slides | Memory and FIFO examples | |
| 03/02/2026 | Memory Examples from Book slides | Memory and FIFO examples from the book | |
| 03/02/2026 | ROM slides | Look up table Rom and Fixed point number representation | |
| 03/02/2026 | Statemachine with Memory Component slides | FSM and Memories examples | |
| 03/04/2026 | Comparator slides | Comparator and sort examples | |
| 03/09/2026 | ASIC slides | ASIC design flow | |
| 03/11/206 | Place and Route pnr_flow_slides.pdf pnr_steps_updated-no block.pdf | Tutorial on place and route | |
| 03/23/2026 | Final Project slides | Final Project RISC processor Design | |
| 03/25/2026 | Instruction Set Review slides | Instruction Sets, RISCs, CISC, Harvard, Von Neumann | |
| Static Timing slides | Static timing and analysis with an example | ||
| ASIC Floor planning slides | Slides from Prof Riadul Islam | ||
| Innovus slides | Tutorial for Innovus tool | ||
