Welcome to ES 4!
Quick links: Campuswire — Gradescope — Textbook online — VHDLweb problems
This is the home page for ES 4. Details on the Fall 2021 offering of the course are on the about page.
Schedule and links
General due dates, unless otherwise specified:
- Reading checks are due on the day of class at 10am, via provide.
- Homework/assessments are due on Mondays at 10:00am (i.e., before the first class), via Gradescope.
- Prelabs are due 24 hours before your lab section, via Gradescope.
- Lab writeups are due at the time of your lab section the following week, via Gradescope.
Week 1 (September 8)
You don't need to do anything before class, just show up!
Introduction (Wednesday 9/8)
Read learning guide
Sign up on Campuswire (see email invite)
Sign up on Gradescope (see email invite)
Complete welcome survey (link posted on Campuswire)
Numbers in binary
Just for fun
Week 2 (September 13)
Class sessions have been moved to Lane 100.
Boolean equations, truth tables, and circuits (Monday 9/13)
Read Harris 1.5 (Logic gates)
Read Harris 2.1-2.2 (Boolean equations)
Complete reading check 1
Manipulating boolean equations (Wednesday 9/15)
Read Harris 2.3-2.6
Complete reading check 2
Possibly helpful
Lab
In-person labs begin this week in Halligan 223
Schematic video tutorial coming soon
Assignments
Start Homework 1 (due 9/22 via Gradescope)
Week 3 (September 20)
Minimizing logic with Karnaugh maps (Monday 9/20)
Harris 2.7
Complete reading check 3
Practice simplifying boolean equations (works best in Chrome)
Karnaugh map solver (Make up your own and practice!)
Multiplexers and FPGAs (Wednesday 9/22)
Read Harris 2.8
Complete reading check 4
Possibly helpful
Lab
Assignments
Start Homework 2 (due 9/27 via Gradescope)
Just for fun
What is an FPGA? (EEVblog) A thorough overview of FPGAs, how they work inside, and comparison with a microcontroller.
Week 4 (September 27)
Timing combinational logic (Monday 9/27)
Read Harris 2.9
Complete reading check 5
VHDL for combinational logic (Wednesday 9/29)
Read Harris 4.1-4.2
Complete reading check 6
Possibly helpful
Lab
Assignments
Start Homework 3 (due x/x via VHDLweb)
Just for fun
Week 5 (October 4)
Testing and testbenches (Monday 10/4)
Read Harris 4.3, 4.9
Complete reading check 7
Computer arithmetic (Wednesday 10/6)
Read Harris 1.4.1-1.4.6 (Representing numbers in binary)
Complete reading check 8
Lab
There is no prelab or lab report this week; just follow the video tutorial and get the AND gate working.Week 6 (October 11)
No class on Monday; Indigenous People's Day
Adders and other combinational circuits (Wednesday 10/3)
Read Harris 5.1-5.2
Complete reading check 9
Week 7 (October 18)
Exam 1 on Monday 10/18
Content from Spring 2021
Content below this point has been copied from the Spring 2021 iteration of the course. I've left it here so you can see where the course is going, but things may be rearranged somewhat.
Latches and flip-flops
Read Harris 3.1-3.3
Lab
Assignments
Complete reading check 6 (due 3/12)
Free-form VHDL simulation
Possibly helpful
From D-latch to D-flip-flop (Ben Eater) (This is a different way to build a D flip-flop than what the book describes, which might help you better understand what it does.)
Just for fun
Week 7 (March 15)
Structural modeling
Describing sequential logic with VHDL
Read Harris 4.4-4.5
Sequential building blocks
Read Harris 5.4
How does a PS/2 keyboard work? (Ben Eater) (Watch the first half to see a cool use of a shift register)
Lab
No new lab this week; complete lab 4 if you haven't finished.
Assignments
Complete reading check 7 (due 3/19)
Start Homework 5 (due 4/5 via VHDLweb)
Complete mid-semester feedback survey (link on Campuswire, due 3/22)
Possibly useful
Week 8 (March 22)
Spring break week
Week 9 (March 29)
State machines
Read Harris 3.4, 4.6
Assignments
Complete reading check 8 (due 4/2)
Lab
Optional lab stuff
Possibly useful
Introduction to state machines (Intermation) Detailed explanation of what "state" is, with a walkthrough of the traffic light example from start to finish.
Week 10 (April 5)
Timing sequential logic
Read Harris 3.5
Assignments
Complete reading check 9 (due 4/9)
Complete project team survey (link on Campuswire)
Possibly helpful
Just for fun
Week 11 (April 12)
Memory: registers, RAM, and ROM
Read Harris 5.5
(Optional) Digital peripherals and protocols
Read Harris 9.1-9.3.4.1
Assignments
Complete reading check 10 (due 4/16)
Possibly helpful
Lab
Pick one of the following three labs to complete. You probably want to coordinate with your project team so you collectively cover them all.Week 12 (April 19)
The ARM instruction set
Read Harris 6.1-6.4
Assignments
Complete reading check 11 (due 4/23)
Week 13 (April 26)
Components of a microprocessor
Read Harris 7.1-7.3.1
How a microprocessor executes code
Read Harris 7.3.2-7.3.4
Lab
Finish lab 6 if you haven't yet; no report.
The lab will be open during regular lab hours for project work.
Assignments
Start Assessment 2 (due 5/11 via Gradescope)
No quiz this week!
Week 14 (May 3)
Recitations
Only Monday recitations meet this week
Projects
Work on final projects
Final project demos
Final project demo day, May 11 3:30-5:30pm