Programmable logic and re-configurable hardware is extensively used for the design of high-performance embedded electronic systems. These devices can be found in a wide array of complex systems such as mobile telephones to special purpose high-performance computing engines. Programmable devices offer a combination of flexibility and processing power that easily surpasses general purpose computing devices and challenges even dedicated architectures such as Digital Signal Processors (DSPs). Reconfigurable hardware also offers a time to market advantage, design integration, are easy to design with and can be reprogrammed time and time again even in the field to upgrade overall system functionality. Furthermore, with the advent of highly-integrated System-on-Chip (SoC) and FPGA architectures, there is a growing need to fully comprehend how to take advantage of these coupled systems for the next-generation of high-performance computing applications.

It is therefore imperative that graduates of communications, electronics and computer systems have the opportunity to gain experience in this powerful design and implementation methodology. This course introduces design methods and tools for programmable logic systems, with a particular focus on Verilog, architectures and system level design.