Analog Workshop 2023

How to Learn Practical ASIC and PCB Design in Just One Year

The 1,5-year Power Electronics and Microelectronics Master curriculum at Reutlingen University is centered around a one-year team laboratory project. In this project, starting from day zero of the curriculum, students gain hands-on experience with the joint development of a complex electronic system with microelectronic and power electronics components from specification capture over system architecture, ASIC, and PCB design to prototype implementation and test. Recent project assignments include the design of delta-sigma or PWM modulated Class D audio amplifiers with gallium nitride power devices and the development of control and power circuitry for sensorless operation of switched reluctance motors. All assignments include the design of an analog or mixed-signal CMOS ASIC for signal processing and control purposes. In my talk, I will present our learning-by-doing approach to teaching electronics design and discuss the organizational, technological, and financial requirements that must be met to make such complex projects feasible with students that have had little, if any, previous exposure to the theory and practice of ASIC design.