Digital Electronics (Bachelor level) Microprocessors (Bachelor level)

The objective of this subject is to make an advanced study of the architecture of digital systems, whether they are based on a processor, or if they use a custom architecture to obtain certain features, analyzing the existing alternatives as well as the advantages and disadvantages of each of them. As a relevant processor case study, the RISCV architecture will be used. For the design of custom architectures, High-Level Synthesis techniques and tools will be used. The study has a strong practical character and is aimed at providing students with analysis and design skills for complex digital systems.

1. Introduction to digital systems. General purpose architectures: the microprocessor. Application-specific architectures. 2. Design optimization at the RT level. Serial, parallel, and segmented architectures. Examples and practical exercises of architecture design. 3. Processors. Set of instructions. The RISC-V architecture: basic architecture and extensions. 4. Processor design: data path and control. Parallelism and pipelining of instructions. Hazards. Exceptions. 5. Design of arithmetic units 6. Memory subsystems. Cache. Virtual memory. Shared memory. 7. Interfaces and buses. 8. Parallel architectures. Multi-core processors. Heterogeneous computating 9. Fundamentals of High-Level Synthesis. Scheduling, Allocation & Binding. Exercises and application examples. 10. High-Level Synthesis Tools. Optimization directives. Data types and accuracy. Optimisation of performance and resources. Interfaces. Validation and analysis of results. Application examples

LEARNING ACTIVITIES - Lectures - Practical classes - Laboratory or computer room practices - Group work - Midterm and final exams TEACHING METHODOLOGIES Presentations in class by the teacher with the support of computer and audiovisual media, in which the main concepts of the subject are developed and the bibliography is provided to complement the learning of the students. Resolution of practical cases, problems, etc. posed by the teacher and solved by the student individually or in a group with the support of computer tools.