Course | Master of Science in Electrical Engineering
Semester: Fall 2024
Instructor: Dr. Biswajit Ray

Digital System Design

Course Overview

This course introduced the complete design flow of digital systems, combining both hardware and software perspectives. Emphasis was placed on practical design techniques and real-world implementation, guiding students through the process of building and debugging digital hardware from behavioral descriptions to gate-level synthesis and deployment on FPGA platforms. In tandem with the lab component, the course provided hands-on experience using Verilog and industry-standard tools, reinforcing a top-down design methodology—from high-level modeling to hardware verification on physical chips.

Technical Scope

• Hardware Description and Modeling

  • Behavioral and structural design using Cadence

  • Simulation of digital circuits at functional and gate levels using ModelSim

• Digital Logic Design

  • Design of combinational logic circuits and arithmetic components

  • Sequential logic design, including flip-flops, registers, and counters

  • Finite State Machine (FSM) modeling and optimization

• System-Level Design and Verification

  • Top-down design methodology

  • Control and datapath design for digital subsystems

  • Debugging and validating digital systems through simulation and testbenches in Cadence

• FPGA and Hardware Implementation

  • Synthesis of Verilog designs using Quartus Prime

  • Mapping gate-level designs to FPGA hardware

  • Real-time debugging and validation

• Programmable Logic Devices

  • Implementation of logic functions using FPGA fabric

Final Reflection

This course gave me a deep, hands-on understanding of how modern digital systems are designed, simulated, and implemented on real hardware. By working through the full development cycle—from writing Verilog code and simulating behavior to synthesizing designs and deploying them on FPGAs—I developed a strong grasp of both the theoretical and practical aspects of digital hardware design. This experience not only sharpened my technical skills in HDL programming and system-level thinking but also strengthened my ability to debug and optimize under real-world constraints. These are the same skills required in today's fast-paced hardware development environments. I’m excited to apply this foundation in roles involving digital design, embedded systems, or FPGA development, and I’m confident in my ability to contribute meaningfully from day one.