Video Courses on "Computer Architecture" from MITx

It has been a long time since we posted links to courses in the field of Computer Architecture.

Guess what, there are some exciting courses coming up on Edx from MITx on the said field. If you are interested in the field of Digital Design or intend to design some of the cool systems which are used world wide, these courses are a good starting point to learning the underlying concepts.

These are also helpful if you intend to enter into the semiconductor industry(or maybe thinking of adding a new skill set to your portfolio) or wanting to refresh the basics or maybe thinking of preparing for interviews.

These courses are a part of Computation Structure series where you will be designing your own processor after learning the concepts.

Kindly do enroll and provide your feedback on the courses.

The starting dates and course names are also provided :


Computation Structures Part 1: Digital Circuits - starts September 6th
Computation Structures Part 2: Computer Architecture - starts November 29th
Computation Structures Part 3: Computer Organization - starts February 8th (2017)

See you there!! :)

PS : You will also get a certificate from MITx if you enroll in the paid version of the course.

Free Timing Diagram Drawing Tools

In the VLSI industry, it is a requirement to come up with timing diagrams for the operations of circuits, blocks and IPs. It is also required at times about how the blocks interact with each other. This timing information is captured using waveform in the Design Specification docs and also in testplan many a times. In such a situation there is a requirement to draw the diagrams showing the relations ship between different signals and their alignment with the clock. 

Though you can get the job done using Microsoft Powerpoint/Microsoft Visio/Microsoft Excel, however, there are multiple online free tools available to make timing diagrams in the format we want(and also in lesser time than above and hence contributing to our productivity).

I am listing some of the tools which can be used(My personal favorite is WaveDrom. It even has a dedicated SNUG paper for it)

• WaveDrom - It can be installed in your computers or can be run online to create timing diagrams. It creates timing diagram using simple textual inputs (basically a javascript).  Here's the link to SNUG paper on it. The link has a tutorial also and it is very easy to use.Below is the sample image generated from WaveDrom :

                                                                     Fig 1. Timing Diagram from WaveDrom

• DrawTiming - It is also a very simple tool with a command line interface which allows you to write scripts(pretty intuitive). Below is a sample image from the tool site :

                                              Fig 2. Timing Diagram from DrawTiming

• Timing Editor - It is another free waveform editor which can be used to create timing diagrams.

• Timing Diagram Font - This software allows to generate timing diagrams in MS Word font. An example GIF generated using above tool is provided below(from the given link only)

Fig 3. Timing Diagram from Timing Diagram Font

I found above tools pretty interesting to play with and they save time while working.

I hope above tool will also help in your journey.

Let me know if you know of any other tool which is simpler to use than above. 

Till next post !!!

***Please note the images put in above figures are taken from the tool sites respectively. I dont have a copyright on above images.

Message from SOCD Team

Hi All,

After an overwhelming response from people who want to learn the basics of electronics and are in search of resources for learning new things in the area of SoC design, we thought that it would be a good idea to pour in a basic learning curve for all the "Electronics Enthusiasts". Motivated by the appreciative response from people, we have added another menu button which will contain links to various important lectures which can be used as a road-map for learning the basics of SoC design and related fields.

Under Video Tutorials tab above you will find blogs which will contain links to various courses that can be undertaken to learn SoC design, starting from scratch. Also this section will contains links to videos in various fields of SoC design and application including VLSI Digital design, Computer Architecture, Analog Design, Embedded systems, languages like Verilog/System Verilog, etc.

We do not guaranty that you will become instant success after going through the videos, but we do guaranty that given proper amount of time, one can become a virtuoso of the field the person chooses to work on. It will take time but the time spent will be highly rewarding and lead to a start of new learning curve on which you can build upon.

Also these lectures (if the mentioned pattern is followed) will be helpful when you join the industry of your preference (these will be helpful in your interviews as well). We found these lectures awesome and highly satisfying, hope they do the same for you. With the Semiconductor market being highly competitive, it is really difficult for a fresher to land a job in the Industry, but with proper planning and using the correct resources there are vast amount of opportunities in the field. In fact most of the companies have so many vacancies but they are not able to find the appropriate talent among a large pool of Electronic Engineers because of lacking the appropriate knowledge and basic skill set.

Putting these tutorials together(and the blogs) is our means of providing the knowledge which is relevant for any candidate which is aspiring to land a job in the Semiconductor Industry.

Hope all the effort will be really helpful for the learners !!!

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Till the next post.

Cheers !!!!

SOCD Team