Course Goals: To provide in-depth understanding of digital systems and their design, from specification and simulation to construction and debugging.
Enrollment: No auditing of the class will be permitted and only registered students may attend. All students must have completed the prerequisite material (CSE326/CSE370).
Textbook: Katz, Contemporary Digital Design (Benjamin/Cummings). You will find Katz to be a useful reference.
Supplementary Material: Not all of what we want to cover is in the textbook. I will be handing out supplementary notes and copies of lecture slides during the quarter. I will try to hand these out before I cover them in class so that you can read ahead.
Homework: I will hand out a small design problem at the end of almost every lecture. We will collect the homework at the beginning of the next lecture (unless more time is allotted). You will get 10 points for making a good attempt to do the homework. Another 10 points will be given for correct solutions. We will not be able to grade every homework, and you are allowed 2 missing homeworks without penalty. No late homework will be accepted.
Labs: There is a lab scheduled every week, with one section meeting Tuesday and the other meeting Thursday. Some of the labs will be self-contained and you will be able to complete it in the three hour lab time. Other labs will require extra work to complete. You will be given a week to complete lab assignments (i.e. until the next lab session). Labs will be done in groups of two - we will assign groups at least at the beginning of the quarter.
Project: There will a design project that will span the last 4-5 weeks of the quarter. Project teams will comprise two students and you will be able to choose who you want to work with (in the same lab session). Homework assignments will drop off after you start working on the project.
Collaborative Learning: It is well known that students can learn a lot from each other given the chance. I encourage you to work with each other. However, I also expect the work you turn in for homework, labs and the project to be your own. That is, even though you may get ideas from other students, you are responsible for understanding it to the point where you can put the design together and get it to work. I also encourage you to help other students. However, although it is fine to discuss ideas or help them debug a design. please do not do their work for them.
Quizzes and Exams: There will be a short (15 min.) quiz every second Friday at the end of class which will cover all material covered through that Wednesday. The lowest quiz score will be dropped. No makeups will be given. There will be no mid-term exam. The final exam will be two-hour hours, which is scheduled for 8:30-10:20, Thursday March 16, 2000. Quizzes and the final exam will be open book and open notes.
Grading: The course grade will be roughly determined as follows:
Cheating Policy: You may work with others to complete homework and lab assignments. It is, of course, in your best interests to contribute as much as you can. If you got substantial help from someone else on an assignment, please make a note to that effect (so they can get extra credit). I will be meeting with the project teams to discuss the work they have done. There will be no collaboration on quizzes and exams. I take cheating very seriously. Any cases will be sent to the cheating committee for prosecution.