How to Clock Your Computer

People

Lecturers:

• Christoph Lenzen
• Danny Dolev
• Ian W. Jones

Teaching Assistant:

• Sophie Wenning

 

Lecture Slots

weekly lecture slots:

• Monday, 12:00 - 14:00
• Tuesday, 12:00 - 14:00

first lecture:

• Tuesday, 12.04.2022

There are no tutorials. The lectures are online. The participation link will be sent out to registered students before the first lecture (later registrations are possible; please contact Christoph Lenzen (mail) or Sophie Wenning (mail) for receiving the link in this case).

 

Content Overview

This advanced lecture entitled "How to Clock your Computer" introduces the problem of clocking circuits from a theoretical perspective. We start out with the building blocks of digital logic and provide realistic models for their behavior. We explain the need for synchronised clock signals, present the existing solutions, and motivate the need for solutions which treat a chip as a distributed system of clock domains. We then proceed to discuss, in mathematical terms, the unique problems that circuits present when implementing these solutions. We discuss techniques to solve these issues. Finally we discuss distributed solutions and show how these techniques enable us to devise improved clocking methods.

 

Classroom Model

This lecture follows the inverted classroom model. This implies that the course is structured as follows:

• We will provide you with some reading material one week before each new lecture block and you will prepare a summary of the topic which we will grade. You are also encouraged to ask questions about aspects that you feel you have not yet properly understood. This step is intended to prepare you for the actual lecture.

• The lecture itself aims to be interactive. The lecturers will present the topic in more detail. In a subsequent discussion we will answer your questions before moving on to jointly solved exercises designed to further deepen your understanding of the topic.

Prerequisites

No prerequisites other than basic mathematical knowledge are needed. It can be helpful to have knowledge about (electric) circuitry and Boolean logic, but this is not mandatory.

Evaluation

The grades for this course will be computed from:

• Homework assignments (25%): you have to write a short summary for each of the above chapters. These fortnightly assignments will be graded.
• Participation in class (25%): we appreciate your participation in the discussions that will form an important part of each lecture. As your contribution will be graded, attendance at the lectures is strongly recommended.
• Final written submission (50%): a final homework assignment at the end of the semester completes the assessment.