ECMP 486: Research in VLSI Systems
Final Project Guidelines
Here are some guidelines for the final project.
One option is to read three or four papers in a
specific area of VLSI design automation, and
make a presentation to the class.
- Let me know the area that you intend to
study sometime the week after Spring Break.
Feel free to come in and talk to me if you
are having trouble identifying an area.
- Any topic in VLSI design automation is fair
game, with the following rule: you must go
beyond what you've already read as part of
your research work (no fair telling us about
papers your advisor has already assigned you
to read). People who are far along in their
research can still benefit from the project
by looking into a rival approach to the one
they are researching; it's important to know
as much as possible about the competition!
- An important part of the project is picking
out a good set of papers to present. Plan to
spend a significant amount of time in the
library and surfing the web. The best
approach is to pick a relatively narrow topic, and
find three or four different approaches for solving
the same problem. Then, you can compare the
methods and tell us which is best.
- Each presentation will be thirty minutes
long, followed by five minutes for questions
and answers. I will be very strict about the
time. When you prepare your presentation, think
carefully about how much you can cover in the allotted time.
Use no more than 25 transparencies (15 or 20 is even better),
and make sure
that they are legible. If you would prefer to
use a laptop and Powerpoint, let me know so that
I can borrow the proper projection equipment.
- Be sure to carefully describe the problem
that the papers you read address, and to give
the class sufficient background so that they
understand why the problem is important, what
the pertinent issues are, etc.
- Provide a one-page abstract of your talk to post
on the web site. (You may write your abstract in html,
postscript, or ascii). This abstract should
be similar to those posted for department seminars.
Summarize the important aspects of the papers,
and include your thoughts on the
advantages and disadvantages of each approach,
in a general way.
The abstract must also contain full references to
the papers you cover. TURN IN YOUR ABSTRACT AT
LEAST ONE DAY BEFORE YOUR TALK.
- The final four classes will be devoted to project
presentations. (April 14th, 16th, 21nd, and
23rd). I will post a sign-up sheet on my office door
(Olin 509) after Spring Break. I will also post the
schedule and the topics of the talks on this web site
as they become available.
Another option is to further explore some concept that
we studied in class; perhaps you've had some idea on how
to modify some method we've studied, or you have a better
idea on how to solve one of the problems! You could
do a small experiment to try out your idea, and report
back to the class on the results (with a no-more-than half hour
presentation). The key here is to pick something relatively
small scale; my intention is that the experiment should
take no more than three or four weeks.
Joan Carletta,
carletta@ces.cwru.edu