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Combinational logic and arithmetic circuits
Combinational logic and arithmetic circuits
Understand the design and synthesis of digital logic, with a specific focus on combinational logic and arithmetic circuits.
Course description
The MOOC “Combinational logic and arithmetic circuits,” the first course in the Digital Logic Design series, introduces the fundamentals of logic circuit design and synthesis. It targets Bachelor’s students in Computer Science and Electronics interested in computer architectures providing insight into processor components and their design. The course focuses on combinational logic and presents methods for specification and synthesis, then introduces arithmetic circuits and their design.
Total workload of the course: 12 hours
This MOOC is provided by Politecnico di Milano.
The course features content produced by the faculty and contains media modified or generated with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
This MOOC was produced as part of the Edvance project – Digital Education Hub per la Cultura Digitale Avanzata. The project is funded by the European Union – Next Generation EU, Component 1, Investment 3.4 “Didattica e competenze universitarie avanzate".
Intended Learning Outcomes
At the end of this course, you will be able to:
- Explain the fundamental principles of digital logic systems
- Describe the operation of the main combinational functional blocks within a processor, with particular focus on arithmetic components
- Explain methods for the design and optimization of combinational digital circuits
- Analyze combinational circuits designed by others
- Design and optimize combinational logic circuits starting from given design requirements
In general terms, participants will develop learning outcomes in the following areas:
ESCO: hardware architectures computer engineering computer technology
Prerequisites
Participants are expected to have a basic knowledge of computer architecture.
Activities
Over and above consulting the content, in the form of videos and other web-based resources, you will have the opportunity to discuss course topics and to share ideas with your peers in the Forum of this MOOC. The forum of this MOOC is freely accessible, and participation is not guided; you can use it to compare yourself with other participants, or to discuss course contents with them.
Section outline
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Week 1 introduces the basic mathematical foundations for representing logic circuits and then discusses methods for the specification and synthesis of combinational logic. Two classes of synthesis methods are presented: two-level and multi-level combinational synthesis.
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Week 2 focuses on arithmetic circuits. It first introduces numerical representations for both integer and real numbers. Then, algorithms for performing basic arithmetic operations in each representation format are presented, and finally, circuit design is examined.
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Video transcripts Folder
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Assessment
Your final grade for the course will be based on the results of your answers to the assessed quizzes. You have an unlimited number of attempts at each quiz, but you must wait 15 minutes before you can try again. You will have successfully completed the course if you score 60% (or higher) in each one of the assessed quizzes. The maximum score possible for each quiz is given at the beginning of the quiz. You can view your score in the quiz on your last attempt or on the 'Grades' page.
Certificate
You can achieve a certificate in the form of an Open Badge for this course, if you reach at least 60% of the total score in each one of the assessed quizzes and fill in the final survey.
Once you have completed the required tasks, you will be able to access ‘Get the Open Badge’ and start issuing the badge. Instructions on how to access the badge will be sent to your e-mail address.
The Badge does not confer any academic credit, grade or degree.
Information about fees and access to materials
The course is delivered in online mode and is available free of charge.
Course faculty
Antonio Miele
Politecnico di Milano, Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering, Associate Professor
Antonio Miele is an Associate Professor at the Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering (DEIB), Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy. He received his Ph.D. in Information Technology in 2010 from the same institution, where he worked as a postdoctoral research assistant from 2010 to 2014 and as an assistant professor from 2014 to 2021. During his doctoral studies, he spent a research period at the European Space Agency (ESTEC), Noordwijk, The Netherlands. He obtained both his M.Sc. and B.Sc. degrees in Computer Science and Engineering from Politecnico di Milano in 2006 and 2003, respectively, and an M.Sc. in Computer Science from the University of Illinois at Chicago, USA, in 2006.
His main research interests concern the design of computing system architecture, with a focus on reliability and fault tolerance, and self-adaptive approaches for runtime resource management in heterogeneous multi-/many-core platforms. His past research activities also include FPGA design and reconfigurable systems.
He has co-authored more than 100 scientific publications in international conferences and journals. He regularly serves as a member of the technical program committees of major conferences in the field and as an editorial board member of international journals.
Credits
Gianluca Palermo (Full Professor, Politecnico di Milano) for his contribution to the preparation of the course content, based on materials from previous editions of the Reti Logiche course taught in the Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and Engineering.
Davide Conficconi (Assistant Professor, Politecnico di Milano) for his contribution to translating the slides and transcripts into English.
Contact details
If you have any enquiries about the course or if you need technical assistance please contact pok@polimi.it. For further information, see FAQ page.