IC Design Contest

This repository contains my design for the IC Design Contest. You can find more information about the contest here.

Each folder corresponds to the respective year's competition and includes problem statements, RTL code, testbench, synthesis reports, and other relevant files.

Year	Level	Name	Clock Period	Highest Grade Standards	Result	Grade
2023	Grad	LASER	8 ns	Area < 37000um²	Area : 30707um² Cycle: 56574	A
2022	Grad	JAM	10 ns	Area < 10000um² Cycle < 430000	Area : 8310um² Cycle: 362877	A
2021	Univ	Geofence	30 ns	Area < 22000um²	Area : 16504um² Cycle: 2505	A
2020	Grad	SME	20 ns	Score = 100	Area : 17380um² Cycle: 1822	A
2019	Grad	CONV	20 ns	Area > 270000um²	Area : 41333um² Time: 3563661 ns	S
2018	Univ	LCD_CTRL	20 ns	---	Area : 70244um²	A
2018	Grad	Huffman Coding	10 ns	---	Area : 17584um² Cycle: 156	A
2017	Grad	Distance Transform	10 ns	Area < 12500um² Time < 1920000 ns	Area : 4678um² Time: 1459441 ns	A
2016	Grad	Local Binary Patterns	12 ns	Area(um²) * Time(ns) < 12,000,000,000	Area : 7070um² Time: 1771180 ns Product: 5,452,242,600	A
2015	Grad	SET	10 ns	Area < 9000um²	Area : 7621um² Cycle: 43570	A
2014	Grad	STI_DAC	10 ns	Area < 20000um²	Area : 4720um² Cycle: 2153	A

2023 : LASER

The key objective for 2023 was to use iterative methods to find two circles that could cover the maximum number of target points.

• Circuit Design:
  • 4-Processor Version:
    • Area: 23614.2 um²
    • Cycle Count: 112894
    • All patterns passed successfully.
  • 8-Processor Version:
    • Area: 30707.7 um²
    • Cycle Count: 56574
    • All patterns passed successfully.

Grade A Standards for 2023:

• All test patterns have successfully passed both gate-level and RTL simulations under a clock cycle of 8 ns.
• Area < 37,000 um²

2022 : JAM (Jan Assignment Machine)

The focus for 2022 was on implementing the lexicographical permutation algorithm in a circuit.

• Circuit Design:
  • Area: 8310.5 um²
  • Cycle Count: 362877
  • All patterns passed successfully.

Grade A Standards for 2022:

• All test patterns have successfully passed both gate-level and RTL simulations under a clock cycle of 10 ns.
• Total simulation cycle count < 430,000 cycles.
• Area < 10,000 um²

2021 : Geofence

The challenge for 2021 was to sort six coordinate points in a clockwise (or counterclockwise) order using the cross product of vectors, and then to use the cross product again to determine if an object is within the geofence formed by these points.

• Circuit Design:
  • Area: 16503.8 um²
  • Cycle Count: 2505
  • All patterns passed successfully.

Grade A Standards for 2021:

• All test patterns have successfully passed both gate-level and RTL simulations under a clock cycle of 30 ns.
• Area < 22,000 um²

2020 : SME(String Matching Engine)

The challenge for 2020 was to process a given string and multiple patterns, then to identify the locations of these patterns within the string. Special attention was required for four types of special symbols that necessitated unique handling.

• Circuit Design:
  • Area: 17379.7 um²
  • Cycle Count: 1822
  • All patterns passed successfully with a score of 100.

Grade A Standards for 2020:

• All test patterns have successfully passed both gate-level and RTL simulations. Clock period = 20 ns(default).
• Score = 100

2019 : CONV (Image Convolution Circuit Design)

The challenge for 2019 was to design a circuit for a convolution algorithm. The input data consisted of a single channel with 64x64 data points (4096 in total). The first layer involved convolution with two sets of 3x3 kernels and two sets of biases. The second layer implemented max pooling with a stride of 2, and the third layer involved flattening, where the data from max pooling (2x32x32) was interlaced in the output. The input data format was 20-bit, with the 4 most significant bits as a 4-bit integer and the 16 least significant bits as a 16-bit fraction.

• Circuit Design:
  • Area: 41333.4 um²
  • Run Time: 3563661 ns
  • All patterns, across all layers, successfully passed in both RTL and gate-level simulations under a clock period of 20 ns.

Grade S Standards for 2019:

• All test patterns across all layers have successfully passed both gate-level and RTL simulations under any clock cycle.
• Area > 270000 um²

2018 : LCD_CTRL (Image Display Control Circuit)

The challenge for 2018 was to design an image display control circuit capable of handling an 8x8 grayscale image. The circuit was required to process four pixels surrounding an operation point(op point), supporting functionalities such as op point movement, image rotation, and inversion.

• Circuit Design:
  • Area: 70243.5 um²
  • All patterns successfully passed in both RTL and gate-level simulations under a clock period of 20 ns.

Grade A Standards for 2018:

• All test patterns have successfully passed both gate-level and RTL simulations under any clock cycle.

2018 : Huffman Coding Circuit

The challenge for 2018 was to design a circuit for Huffman coding. The input consisted of 100 pieces of data, each representing a grayscale value with six levels. The circuit was required to implement the Huffman coding algorithm based on these data points.

• Circuit Design:
  • Area: 17583.4 um²
  • All patterns successfully passed in both RTL and gate-level simulations under a clock period of 10 ns.

Grade A Standards for 2018:

• All test patterns have successfully passed both gate-level and RTL simulations under a clock cycle of 10 ns.

2017 : DT (Distance Transform Circuit)

The challenge for 2017 was to design a circuit for Distance Transform. The circuit was to read 128x128 binary values from a testbench's ROM, implement the Distance Transform algorithm including a forward pass and a backward pass, and finally, return the results to the testbench's RAM.

• Circuit Design:
  • Area: 4678.0 um²
  • Time: 1,529,640,798 ps for TB1, 1,459,440,789 ps for TB2
  • All patterns successfully passed in both RTL and gate-level simulations under a clock period of 10 ns.

Grade A Standards for 2017:

• All test patterns have successfully passed both gate-level and RTL simulations under a clock cycle of 10 ns.
• Area < 12500 um²
• Time < 1,920,000 ns

2016 : Local Binary Patterns Circuit

The challenge for 2016 was to design a circuit for Local Binary Patterns (LBP). The circuit was required to implement the LBP algorithm on a 128x128 grayscale image, focusing on processing the center pixel and its surrounding 3x3 area, and then producing an output. In the designed circuit, a line buffer of width 9 was used to reuse the data on the left side of the 3x3 area, thereby reducing the cycle count.

• Circuit Design:
  • Area: 7069.7 um²
  • Time: 1,771,180 ns
  • Product of Area and Time: 5,452,242,600
  • All patterns successfully passed in both RTL and gate-level simulations under a clock period of 12 ns.

Grade A Standards for 2016:

• All test patterns have successfully passed both gate-level and RTL simulations.
• Product of Area(um²) and Time(ns) < 12,000,000,000

2015 : SET (Counting the Number of Vertex Covers by Set-Theoretic Operations of Multiple Circle Graph)

The challenge for 2015 was to design a circuit for counting the number of elements covered within a specified set. The circuit's input consisted of 1 to 3 sets of circle coordinates and their radii, and it was tasked with calculating how many points fell within the circumference of the circles on an 8x8 two-dimensional plane. Depending on the mode, the circuit would perform a series of set operations such as intersections and unions on the three circles.

• Circuit Design:
  • Area: 7621.3 um²
  • Time: 43570 cycles
  • All patterns successfully passed in both RTL and gate-level simulations under a clock period of 10 ns.

Grade A Standards for 2015:

• All test patterns have successfully passed both gate-level and RTL simulations.
• Area < 9000 um²

2014 : STI_DAC (Serial Transmitter and Data Arrange Controller)

The challenge for 2014 was to design a circuit comprising two parts: the Serial Transmitter (Data Arrange Controller) Interface (STI) and the Data Arrange Controller (DAC). The STI module was required to convert input data based on control signals and transmit the converted data 1-bit per cycle. The DAC module was tasked with storing the data following the specified patterns.

• Circuit Design:
  • Area: 4720.5 um²
  • Time: 2153 cycles
  • All patterns successfully passed in both RTL and gate-level simulations under a clock period of 10 ns.

Grade A Standards for 2014:

• All test patterns have successfully passed both gate-level and RTL simulations.
• Area < 20000 um²

---