Master of Continuing Education in
Microelectronic Design

1st edition

Tuition subsidised by the UPV-VaSiC Chair within the PERTE CHIP TSI-069100-2023-0009

aimed at

Since the Master’s degree is specialised and allows students to study specific aspects of microelectronics in depth, a minimum recommended knowledge is established to ensure optimal use of the study programme. This minimum knowledge is based on the following Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees:

  • Degree in Telecommunications Technologies and Services Engineering (specialising in electronics)
  • Technical Telecommunications Engineering (specialising in electronics)
  • Master’s Degree in Telecommunications Engineering
  • Master’s Degree in Electronic Systems Engineering
  • Master’s Degree in Computer Engineering
  • Master’s Degree in Computer and Network Engineering.

BECOME A SPECIALIST


in semiconductor design

CREATE A
CAREER


within the industry’s leading companies

CONNECT WITH
THE FUTURE


with the professionals who are changing the present

participating companies

teaching staff

coordination of optional blocks

Become a microelectronics specialist with the best teachers

methodology

optional training in 4 pathways

40 ECTS

4 blocks to be chosen according to the pathway:
  • PATHWAY A [1-2-3-5]:
    • Digital Design, Verification, Microprocessors, Converters AD /DA
  • PATHWAY B [4-5-6-7]:
    • Analogue Design, Converters AD /DA, Design for RF, PCB
  • PATHWAY C [1-4-6-7]:
    • Digital Design, Analogue Design, Design for RF, PCB
  • PATHWAY D [1-4-2-3]:
    • Digital Design, Analogue Design, Verification, Microprocessors

Digital design

Verification of complex digital systems

Hardware for validation (PCB)

Analogue design

Microprocessors and co-design

AD/DA converters

Design for RF

compulsory training

  • Professional seminars on a variety of topics
  • Monographic courses on specifics topics

Professional seminars on a variety of topics

Monographic courses on specific topics

master’s thesis

Development of the Master's Dissertation, jointly supervised by professionals from the companies

admission to the master’s degree in microelectronics

Students wishing to enrol in the master’s degree must be able to prove that they meet the following requirements, by providing a transcript of records with a summary of the syllabus of the relevant subjects studied in their original degree. Account will also be taken of any professional experience recognised as meeting the above requirements.

In the application form, the student must indicate his/her preferred pathway. Candidates must also submit a curriculum vitae and a letter of motivation in which the coherence of their professional career is assessed.

Prerequisites Digital Domain / Verification / Microprocessors:

  • Design of synchronous sequential circuits
    • Sequential and combinational systems
    • State machines
  • Digital design using hardware description languages (Verilog / VHDL)
  • Microprocessor architectures and embedded systems
    • Memory maps
  • Digital signal processing
    • FIR / IIR digital filter design

Pre-requisites Analogue / RF / PCB Area:

  • Basic CMOS analogue design
    • Mono/multi-stage amplifiers
    • Feedback and frequency compensation
  • Basic RF components
  • Electronic system design using CAD tools

Linguistic requirements

The training content can be delivered in Spanish or English, so a B1 level in both languages is recommended

contact

If you are interested in receiving more information about this master’s degree, or if you are sure you want to participate, please send us an application form.

1) Digital Design reinforcement

  • System Verilog HDL codification for logic synthesis
  • RTL digital systems design
  • Finite precision modeling
  • Arithmetic circuits

 

2) Backend design

  • Design flow and previous knowledge
  • Logic synthesis and Scan DFT
  • Place & Route
  • Tapeout checking

 

3) Digital signal processing in VLSI

  • Implementation of DSP systems
  • Sequential architectures derivation
  • Parallel architectures derivation
  • Multirate architectures derivation

 

4) Advanced digital design techniques

  • Clocking circuits
  • Data transfer across clock domains
  • Reset circuits
  • Low power design

1) Introduction to System Verilog

  • Procedures and functions
  • Arrays
  • Concurrency, threads and inter-process communication
  • Code coverage
  • LAB (10h)

 

2) Verification Methodologies

  • Assertion based verification
  • Binary decision diagrams
  • Error injection
  • System Verilog Assertion language
  • LAB (10h)

 

3) Basic UVM

  • Transactions and sequences
  • Drivers and sequencers
  • Monitors and agents
  • Coverage collectors
  • Scoreboard and environment
  • UVM tests and complex sequences
  • LAB (10h)

 

4) Advanced UVM

  • Register Layer Overview
  • Register Description
  • Register Model Integration
  • UVM styles and reuse
  • UVM Frameworks
  • LAB (10h)

1) Hardware design for validation

  • Hardware for validation basics
  • Altium Designer seminar
  • Bring-up design and process
  • Power supply design in test PCB
  • Digital interfaces integration (SPI, JTAG, …)
  • High voltage transients protection

 

2) High speed and RF PCB design

  • Test PCB design
  • High speed digital interfaces in PCB for test
  • Analog RF interfaces in PCB for test
  • Package ballmal distribution

 

3) Thermal design

  • Heat transfer mechanisms in ASICs and PCBs
  • Thermal solutions validation
  • PCB thermal simulation

 

1) Analog Design & Converters reinforcement

  • Analog circuits analysis techniques
  • Feedback analysis techniques
  • Signal Flow Graphs. Mason’s gain formula
  • Stability criteria. Barkhausen, Routh-Hurwitz
  • Noise analysis exercises
  • Converters fundamentals. Specs, architectures, quantization noise etc.

 

2) Advanced Analog Design Flow

  • Main topologies of analog circuits
  • Control techniques applied to analog microelectronic design
  • Noise study of analog circuits
  • Analog layout design techniques
  • LAB: (12 hours). Design and layout of a voltage reference. Design and layout of a voltage regulator

 

3) Power management & Low Drop Out Regulators design

  • Batteries and Power converters basics
    • Linear regulators
    • Switched capacitors regulators
  • Energy harvesting
  • Low Drop Out Linear regulators (LDO)
    • SPECs: Current, PSRR, Noise, Efficiency
    • Pass transistor design
    • OPAMP design
  • LAB: (12 hours). LDO design example

 

4) Analog Design Advanced Topics

  • Analog system integration with top down design and Verilog/A/MS modeling
  • Low power CMOS design with gm/Id + high performance OPAMP design
  • Analog systems integration
  • Temperature sensing
  • LAB: (12 hours). Analog systems integration

1) Microprocessors & Codesign reinforcement

  • Computer architecture introduction
  • RISC-V instruction set
  • RISC-V structural risk analysis
  • Monocycle & multicycle Verilog RTL description

2) RISC-V based system architecture

  • Commercial RISC types
  • Multicycle instructions
  • Single instruction multiple data techniques
  • IP Cache, different configurations
  • Memory maps

3) Silicon based hardware / software SoC Codesign

  • SoC architectures
  • IP accelerators
  • Custom Instructions
  • HW & SW reuse and scalability

4) Firmware development using OS

  • RTOS – FreeRTOs
  • Process synchronization
  • Scheduling
  • Bootloaders

1. Analog Design & Converters reinforcement
  • Analog circuits analysis techniques
  • Feedback analysis techniques
  • Signal Flow Graphs. Mason’s gain formula
  • Stability criteria. Barkhausen, Routh-Hurwitz
  • Noise analysis exercises
  • Converters fundamentals. Specs, architectures, quantization noise etc.
2. Nyquist converters
  • ADC Basics and Essential Building Blocks
  • Flash Converters
  • Wilkinson Converters
  • SAR ADCs
    • Capacitive SAR ADCs
  • DACs Fundamentals
  • LAB: (12 hours). Design of a SAR ADC
3. Oversampling converters. Sigma-Delta
  • Sigma-Delta fundamentals
    • Noise shaping
  • Switched Cap Sigma-Delta
  • Continuous Time Sigma-Delta
  • LAB: (12 hours). High level design and simulation of Sigma-Delta converters
4. Pipeline ADC and other converter architectures
  • Pipelined ADC
    • Introduction to pipelined converters
    • Error characterization in pipelined ADC
    • Low voltage design techniques
  • Ring Oscillator based ADC
    • R0-based ADC architecture
  • LAB: (9 hours). Pipelined ADC simulation. RO-based ADC simulation

1) Fundamentals of RF & Microwave Circuit Design

  • Introduction to RF/microwave Circuits
  • Basic concepts in RF design: non-linearity, noise and sensitivity
  • Lumped-element models at RF/microwave frequencies
  • Transmission lines
  • Distributed circuits
  • LAB: (12 hours). CAD for RF design using Keysight ADS.

 

2) MMIC Design (I)

  • Introduction to MMICs
  • Technologies, foundries and economics of MMICs
  • Component models
  • Passive circuits
    • Transformers
    • Hybrids and couplers
    • Integrated filters
  • Low-noise amplifiers
  • Power amplifiers
    • High-efficiency PAs
    • Linearization techniques
    • Advanced topologies
  • LAB: (12 hours). Design, layout and EM simulation of an LNA. Design, layout and EM simulation of a PA.

 

3) MMIC Design (II)

  • Mixers
    • Passive and active downconversion mixers
    • Upconversion mixers
    • Advanced topologies
  • Oscillators and clock distribution
    • Basic principles
    • Voltage-controlled oscillators
    • Phase noise
    • Clock distribution in ICs
    • LO distribution
    • Couplings
  • Phase-locked loops (PLLs) and frequency synthesis
    • Fundamentals of PLLs
    • Types
    • PLL structure
    • Applications
  • LAB: (12 hours). Design, layout and simulation of a frequency synthesizer.

 

4) Advanced topics in RF/microwave ICs

  • Design project
  • Seminars on advanced topics
    • Novel integrated switching technologies
    • MMIC characterization techniques
    • MMIC for space applications
    • Advanced LNA and PA design
  • LAB: (12 hours). Design project