EEE8088 : Reconfigurable Hardware Design
- Offered for Year: 2022/23
- Module Leader(s): Dr Alex Bystrov
- Lecturer: Dr Nick Coleman
- Owning School: Engineering
- Teaching Location: Newcastle City Campus
Semesters
| Semester 2 Credit Value: | 20 |
| ECTS Credits: | 10.0 |
Aims
This coursework module is aimed at development of knowledge and skills for highly efficient with
respect to power, performance and time to market implementation of signal processing, interfacing
and control blocks. The aims of the:
• Knowledge, skills and design experience on reconfigurable hardware platforms (FPGA chips) in the
context of their Degree Programmes.
• Needs of the modern electronics and comms industry following the major design trends outlined in the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (current edition).
• Consistency in preparation of the students to the Individual Project
Outline Of Syllabus
The module includes lectures, hands-on tutorials and a closely supervised design mini-project, where students work in the laboratory implementing their designs on an FPGA development board using industry standard tools. The design example covers the applications in signal processing and advanced interfacing.
The lectures cover the basic design principles with VHDL, Intel/Altera development tool, a number of interfaces and signal protocols, FIR filter implementation with VHDL, debugging the design on the FPGA development board, writing a technical report.
Teaching Methods
Teaching Activities
| Category | Activity | Number | Length | Student Hours | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Lecture | 2 | 3:00 | 6:00 | PiP/online lectures |
| Structured Guided Learning | Lecture materials | 18 | 1:00 | 18:00 | Pre-recorded lectures with handouts and online texts |
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 1 | 30:00 | 30:00 | Writing up report |
| Guided Independent Study | Assessment preparation and completion | 1 | 10:00 | 10:00 | demo of the design/experiment |
| Scheduled Learning And Teaching Activities | Practical | 3 | 3:00 | 9:00 | PiP - Timetabled Lab Work; in case of lockdown can be executed online with minor curtailment |
| Structured Guided Learning | Structured non-synchronous discussion | 18 | 1:00 | 18:00 | Design support/consultatons, online chat |
| Guided Independent Study | Project work | 1 | 91:00 | 91:00 | Project work |
| Guided Independent Study | Independent study | 18 | 1:00 | 18:00 | Student study time following the lectures |
| Total | 200:00 |
Teaching Rationale And Relationship
• Online Lectures (online materials) provide adequate overview, background, literature sources and introduce the methodology
• of study.
• Hands-on tutorials speed-up the phase of familiarisation with complex software tools.
• Supervised practicals – this is where the student make the key design decisions in their project
• under facilitation and guidance of experienced staff.
• Unsupervised time in the laboratory/online (included into the Private Study activity) – routine
• implementation work.
• Report writing (included into the Private Study activity) – written communication skill,
• summarises and organises all learning outcomes. It is also used for assessment.
Alternatives will be offered to students unable to be present-in-person due to the prevailing C-19 circumstances.
Student’s should consult their individual timetable for up-to-date delivery information.
Assessment Methods
The format of resits will be determined by the Board of Examiners
Other Assessment
| Description | Semester | When Set | Percentage | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Report | 2 | A | 80 | Individual report containing the evidence and analysis of practical results, 4000 words. |
| Oral Examination | 2 | M | 20 | Assessment of practical design |
Formative Assessments
| Description | Semester | When Set | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Practical/lab report | 2 | M | Assessment of progress and involvement degree of all members of the groups, feedback. |
Assessment Rationale And Relationship
The written report must fulfil the SOLO criteria for the extended abstract type work. As such, it must contain the following parts: Aims and Objectives, Introduction, Results, Discussion, Conclusions and References. All the learning outcomes defined above must be reflected in the report. The adequate guidance on report writing will be provided by the academic staff.
Up to 50% of the report can be replaced with equivalent content in the form of tables, diagrams, equations and screen shots. Any illustrative material must be adequately integrated and discussed in the main text. The report must include the summary of the results of 3 hours reading of the current edition of ITRS document; the reading time is included into the private study article. The Demo is needed to verify the reported design and contribution by each student in the group.
Reading Lists
Timetable
- Timetable Website: www.ncl.ac.uk/timetable/
- EEE8088's Timetable