<azonenberg>
putting together a proposal to offer this class in the spring, any ideas?
<Sync__>
pretty steep learning curve :D
<azonenberg>
You think it's too fast? What material would you spend >1 lecture on that is currently down as only 1?
<Sync__>
well, going from no idea to extracting a schem in 5 weeks is pretty hard imho
<azonenberg>
Perhaps, but i need something more concrete
<azonenberg>
Is there material i should cover that i don't have there?
<azonenberg>
is there something i'm not spending enough time on?
<Sync__>
how long are the lectures?
<berndj>
azonenberg, are you assuming that students would be familiar with the switch model for FETs?
<azonenberg>
berndj: Yes
<berndj>
depending on what knowledge / skill you assume, i think asking students to figure out what a cell does might be a bit hard so soon into the classes
<azonenberg>
Switch only, not assuming any knowledge of layout or analog characteristics
<berndj>
obviously also depends on the cell
<azonenberg>
the latter are beyond the scope of the class, and the former will be introduced
<azonenberg>
I'd do simple cells
<azonenberg>
like NAND4 or something
<berndj>
ok
<azonenberg>
then maybe a flipflop for extra credit
<berndj>
i was just thinking that some of the memory element cells could be a bit tough
<azonenberg>
oh, like a 6T SRAM?
<azonenberg>
Yeah, not going to do that so early in the course
<berndj>
how come SRAMs use 6 transistor cells but flipflops use loads more?
<Sync__>
srams want to be fast
<berndj>
even that dynamic d-type flipflop is 9
<berndj>
flipflops aren't supposed to be slow :-/
<azonenberg>
SRAMs include array logic and they normally have differential inputs/outputs
<azonenberg>
the inverters etc don't count toward the 6 since you only include it at the edges of the array
<berndj>
ok that's a handful right there in the inverters
<azonenberg>
Yeah
<azonenberg>
but those arent in the cell
<azonenberg>
they're at the edges of the array
<azonenberg>
An N-bit SRAM array isn't 6N transistors
<azonenberg>
it's 6N + K*log(n) + M
<azonenberg>
for some constants K, M that depend on the array geometry etc