MIT Circuits and Systems Seminar Series

Title: Tools for designing some exciting chips

Speaker: Borivoje Nikolić

Host: Vivienne Sze

Date: Wednesday, November 30, 2022
Time:  10:00 AM to 11:00 AM

Location: 36–462 (Allen Room)

For zoom link, please contact Janice Balzer (balzer@mit.edu)

ABSTRACT: There is an enormous interest in developing customized, domain-specific systems-on-a-chip. Continued improvement in computing efficiency requires functional specialization of hardware designs. But designing complex chips is difficult. This talk presents the Chipyard framework, an integrated SoC design, simulation, and implementation environment for specialized compute systems. Chipyard includes configurable, composable, open-source, generator-based IP blocks that can be used across multiple stages of the hardware development flow while maintaining design intent and integration consistency. We discuss some sample designs, the use of the framework in classes, and opportunities for extension and improvement.

BIO: Borivoje Nikolić is a Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at the University of California at Berkeley, where he holds the National Semiconductor Distinguished Professorship in Engineering. He co-directs the Specialized Computing Ecosystems (SLICE) lab and the Berkeley Wireless Research Center (BWRC).