Metastability-containing Synchronization Circuits

This course does not follow a traditional classroom model. You are expected to study reading assignments before the live online sessions, in which the lecturers will provide additional context for the topics. Reading this material and providing short summaries is the lion's share of the course work outside of the sessions. Beside presentations by the lecturers, the sessions will contain Q&A sessions, and live exercises in breakout rooms. Active participation is highly encouraged and contributes to grades.

To be successful in this course, you will need to read the recommended material, understand it, analyze it, question it, and then reconstruct it in your own way. You will have to hand in a short summary of the material for each major topic, where, in addition to the contents, you will describe your thoughts and questions on it. These submissions contribute a total of 25% for your final grade. Another 25% will be determined from your active participation in the sessions.

At the end of the semester, you will receive an assignment comprising of a number of questions on one of the major topics of your choice. You will then have two weeks to solve these questions and explain your solutions in writing. This involves extracting and presenting the relevant context from the reading material, in a way that clearly conveys the key ideas underlying your solutions. This final assignment will contribute the remaining 50% of your grade.

 

Grades for he course will be computed as follows:

• Topic Summaries (25%). A summary for each chapter will be expected throughout the semester. Summaries are individual pieces of work. We encourage you to discuss the material with your fellow classmates, but the final work must be your own and reflect your understanding and insights into the topic.
• Participation (25%). Attending the sessions is highly recommended, since the class discussions will be graded.
• Final Exam (50%). Final evaluation will be based on a written submission that solves some tailored questions and summarizes the relevant material for these solutions, for a topic of your choice.

Participants are allowed to drop two grades in total from the summaries and participation grades. Further absences can be justified, but require a medical certificate or equivalent proof.

 

Exam

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Topic Summaries

Students have to hand in a written summary of each chapter before the chapter is lectured.

Assignments serve the following purposes:

• ensure that students have an overview and a basic understanding of the chapter
• identify parts that are easy to understand and parts that have to be explained in detail
• prepare students for questions (questions and active discussion are part of the participation grade)

A summary is a one to two page document that has to contain at least:

• chapter title
• your name, your matriculation number
• a short (single paragraph) overview of the chapter. Describe the goal of the chapter, as well as how it fits into the context.
• a summary of the chapter containing main technical ideas (e.g. proof outline) and their relation in your own words
• a personal conclusion, i.e., a few sentences on what you learned, mismatch in your expectation, surprising results, etc.
• (optional, bonus points) a summary of parts you did not understand and specific questions for the lecture

The summary has to be sent to the tutor the day before the lecture.