The plan for the class project is that every team will design a digital system of some sort and implement it as a VLSI chip to the point where it could be sent off for fabrication. It is recommended for teams to fabricate and test their chip, but that is not required. What is required is that each project be finished to the point where it could be fabricated.

The choice as to what you build is entirely up to you. Experience shows that you will be most successful if you are excited about your project. Rather than build a project because it's a requirement for the class, think of something that is interesting to you and build that! If you're looking for interesting ideas, this document will propose some ideas to get you thinking.

One generic idea that's always fun is to build something that will create a video stream. Most of these end up being games. We had some great projects in the past that implemented mine sweeper and video poker. If enough students are interested in these designs, we will discuss the design of a VGA controller in class.

Another generic idea that's always popular is to build some sort of processor. A processor makes a great project because it's very clear what the processor is supposed to do: it executes instructions according to some instruction set architecture (ISA). The next question is then - what should the instruction set be? That depends on what application you would like your processor to be useful for. Before deciding on a processor ISA, think about an application domain and think about the types of instructions you'd need to support that application. Also think about the type of I/O you'd need to have to make a good processor.

Of course, video games and processors are fun, but there are a a million other things you could do that are more specific than a processor. Chips that are built for specific applications are called ASICs for Application Specific Integrated Circuits. These special-purpose chips are everywhere that digital control is called for but a processor is too dramatic. Automotive controllers, cell phone controllers, washing machine controllers, digital camera controllers, etc.\ are just a very few of the types of things that usually involve ASICs. ASICs can be just about anything that includes a controller (i.e. a finite state machine) and a data path to achieve some specialized computation.

Here are some ideas, but use your imagination: