6.111 Announcements

Week of December 17, 2007

  • Scores for the Final Projects are available by following the on-line grades link; please see below for more info on the evaluation. Final grades will be released by the Registar later in the week; please understand that it won't be possible to answer individual requests for your grade.

  • We gave five different marks for the final projects: poor (20 points), fair (25 points), good (30 points), very good (35 points), excellent (40 points). Here's how to intepret the marks:

      A good project includes several carefully designed modules for each team member. The modules work correctly and each is of reasonable complexity (eg, on a par with Lab #5). The Verilog implementation is well organized, helpfully commented, and makes good use of modularity and Verilog idioms. The report is thorough, touching on all important aspects of the design. Each team member has put in noticeable effort throughout the project phase of the course.

      A very good project incorporates one or more modules with a high degree of complexity or a particularly innovative solution, reflecting extra effort in its design and implementation.

      An excellent project exceeds expectations in every dimension: complexity, implementation, and documentation. There is a skillful use of concepts and the project exhibits a lot of functionality. The results are equal to or better than projects with similar goals.

      A fair project falls short of expectations in some way: lack of complexity, less than diligent effort, flaky functionality, minimal documentation, brute force Verilog.

      A poor project falls short of expectations in many ways.

  • Have a good break -- you've earned it!

Week of December 3, 2007

  • The Final Project Checkoff schedule has been posted. Since it's a tight schedule please make every effort to be one time!

  • Please take a moment to complete the on-line HKN Underground Guide survey. Your feedback is very useful in letting us know how we did!

  • The 6.111 lab will be open the following hours this coming week/weekend. Thanks to Gim and TAs for making this possible!

      Tue-Thu, 12/4-12/6: 0900 - 0100
      Fri, 12/08: 0900 - 2300
      Sat, 12/09: 0900 - 2300
      Sun, 12/10: 0900 - 0100

    Outside of normal lab hours you'll need to enter via the 6th floor door.

Week of November 12, 2007

  • This week's to-do list:
    • Tue-Thu: Design Presentations (schedule)
    • Fri: Upload slides and Project Checklist by 5pm.

  • The lab will be open 1300-2345 this Sunday (11/11) and Monday (11/12). Normal hours resume on Tuesday (11/13).

  • Please upload a PDF of your presentation slides and your Project Checklist to the course website by Fri, 11/16, at 5pm.

  • The lab will not be open over Thanksgiving. It closes at 1515 on Wednesday, 11/21, and reopens at 1300 on Sunday, 11/25.

Week of November 5, 2007

  • This week's to-do list:
    • by Fri: Block Diagram Conference w/ TA

  • Next week's to-do list:
    • Tue-Thu: Design Presentations (upload PDF of slides to website).

  • Midterm: solutions, average=96.4, stddev=4.7, histogram. You can pick up your graded exam when at the lab -- please check with Gim.

  • The lab will be open 1300-2345 this Sunday (11/11) and Monday (11/12). Normal hours resume on Tuesday (11/13).

  • The lab will not be open over Thanksgiving. It closes at 1515 on Wednesday, 11/21, and reopens at 1300 on Sunday, 11/25.

  • This is the week you should nail down the details of your design and if you need special parts get them ordered. The staff assigned to your team will need approve any purchases made using course funds, so please talk to them ASAP.

Week of October 29, 2007

  • This week's to-do list:
    • Mon: Project Abstract due (upload PDF by 5pm)
    • Wed: Quiz, 7:30 - 9:30, 34-101
    • Fri: Mandatory Writing Workshop, 1p-2p, 34-101
    • by Fri: Project Proposal Conference w/ mentor (schedule via email)

  • Next week's to-do list:
    • by Fri: Block Diagram Conference w/ mentor (schedule via email)
    • Fri: CI-M Final Draft due, upload by 5pm

  • Midterm: solutions, average=96.4, stddev=4.7, histogram

  • We'll be assigning a staff mentor to each project team. Your mentor will email you to schedule the Proposal Conference.

  • The quiz is scheduled for Wednesday, 10/31, from 7:30p to 9:30p in 34-101. It's open book; you can bring calculators (although you won't need them!). The coverage is the material presentented in lecture and in the tutorial problems. Last year's quiz with solutions is available on the Handouts page.

Week of October 22, 2007

  • This week's to-do list:
    • Mon, Wed: lecture
    • Mon: Project Teams due (email to cjt at mit.edu)
    • Fri: Lab 5 checkoff by 5pm

  • Next week's to-do list:
    • Mon: Project Abstract due (upload PDF by 5pm)
    • Wed: Quiz, 7:30 - 9:30, 34-101
    • Fri: Mandatory Writing Workshop, 1p-2p, 34-101
    • by Fri: Project Proposal Conference w/ mentor (schedule via email)

  • Wednesday is the last lecture for this term.

  • There will be a Writing Workshop on Friday, 11/2, from 1p-2p in 34-101. Attendance is mandatory.

  • The quiz is next Wednesday, 10/31, from 7:30p to 9:30p in 34-101. It's open book; you can bring calculators (although you won't need them!). The coverage is material presentented in lecture and in the tutorial problems. Last term's quiz has been posted on the Handouts page.

Week of October 15, 2007

  • This week's to-do list:
    • Mon, Wed: lecture
    • Fri: Lab 4 (checkoff by 5pm)
    • Project Teams due next Monday, 10/22.

  • Want to talk about your final project? Any of the staff can help you brainstorm; Chris Terman will be in the lab Thu 2-9.

  • Warning! Some students have had problems using the Xilinx tools off of the shared drive (U:). We recommend placing your project folder on the E: drive, copying the folder back to the U: drive when you logout.

  • Lab 5 has been posted.

Week of October 8, 2007

  • This week's to-do list:
    • Mon: it's a holiday, so no lecture, but lab open 1p - 11:45p
    • Tue: student holiday, but lab open normal hours
    • Wed, Fri: lecture
    • Wed: CI-M report draft for Lab #3 due (upload to website by 5pm)
    • Work on Lab 4 (checkoff by 5pm, 10/19)

  • In honor of the holiday (Columbus took a bit longer to complete his assignment than he initially thought!), Lab #3 checkoffs on Sun or Mon will not count as late.

  • To submit a draft (in PDF form) of your CI-M paper, use the "Submit PDFs" link to the left. When the reviewers have made their comments, you'll be able view/download their commented PDF files from the submissions page.

  • Warning! Some students have had problems using the Xilinx tools off of the shared drive (U:). We recommend placing your project folder on the C: or E: drive, copying the folder back to the U: drive when you logout.

  • Lab 5 has been posted.

Week of October 1, 2007

  • This week's to-do list:
    • Mon, Wed: lecture (don't forget the tutorial problems!)
    • Fri: Lab 3 (checkoff by 5pm)
    • Work on Lab 3 CI-M paper (upload by 5p, 10/10)

  • Lab 3 checkoff should be completed by 5pm, 10/5. The Lab 3 written report should be uploaded by 5pm, 10/10.

  • The slides from the CI-M talk have been posted on the handouts page.

  • Lab 4 has been posted.

Week of September 24, 2007

  • This week's to-do list:
    • Mon: no lecture (student holiday)
    • Wed, Fri: lecture
    • work on Lab 3

  • The lab will be open normal hours on Monday, Sept. 24.

  • Some minor corrections were made to the Lab 3 writeup on Sunday. You may wish to print an updated version of the lab.

  • We've adjusted the grading of the labs so that labs 3, 4 and 5 are each worth 8% of the overall grade. Note that these labs will take noticeably more time to complete than Lab 2, so please plan ahead!

  • Use of the network drive from the lab workstations (U:, your desktop, your My Documents folder, ...) as the home of the working directory for the Xilinx tools leads to various problems. We strongly encourage you to use a folder on the C: or E: drives and then copy the folder from/to U: when you log in/out. The problems seem to be triggered when there is heavy network traffic, so limiting your net access to some simple copying of folders at the beginning and end of your session will avoid difficulties.

  • Lab 3 has been issued. Checkoff should be completed by 5pm, 10/5. The Lab 3 written report will be used to satisfy the CI-M requirement. Guidelines for the report can be found at the end of the lab handout and additional writing resources are listed as part of the Lab 3 material. Here's the schedule for the CI-M activities:
    • Fri, 9/28: CI-M intro during 6.111 lecture
    • Wed, 10/10: Lab #3 Report draft due on-line by 5p
    • Wed, 10/24: Draft returned on-line with comments
    • Fri, 11/2: Writing Workshop during Fri. lecture time
    • Fri, 11/9: Lab #3 Report final version due on-line by 5p
    • Fri, 11/30: Final version returned, graded

Week of September 17, 2007

  • This week's to-do list:
    • Mon, Wed: lecture (don't forget the tutorial problems!)
    • Fri: Lab 2 checkoff by 5pm

  • Gim Hom will be giving demos in the 6.111 lab (38-600) on how to use the labkit. He'll be giving the demo at five different times:
    • Sunday, 9/16, at 2:00pm, 7:00pm and 9:00pm
    • Monday, 9/17, at 7:00pm and 9:00pm

  • Lab 3 has been issued. Checkoff should be completed by 5pm, 10/5. The Lab 3 written report will be used to satisfy the CI-M requirement. Guidelines for the report can be found at the end of the lab handout and additional writing resources are listed as part of the Lab 3 material. Here's the schedule for the CI-M activities:
    • Fri, 9/28: CI-M intro during 6.111 lecture
    • Wed, 10/10: Lab #3 Report draft due on-line by 5p
    • Wed, 10/24: Draft returned on-line with comments
    • Fri, 11/2: Writing Workshop during Fri. lecture time
    • Fri, 11/9: Lab #3 Report final version due on-line by 5p
    • Fri, 11/30: Final version returned, graded

Week of September 10, 2007

  • This week's to-do list:
    • Mon, Wed, Fri: lecture (don't forget the tutorial problems!)
    • Fri: Lab 1 checkoff complete by 5pm

  • The TAs and LAs will start staffing the lab on Sunday, 9/9. See the Lab Hours page for the current week's staffing schedule.

  • Gim Hom will be giving demos in the 6.111 lab (38-600) on how to use the logic analyzer and labkit -- info you'll want to know for completing the labs! Here's the demo schedule (each demo is offered multiple times):
    • Logic Analyzer:
      • Sunday, 9/9, at 7:00pm and 9:00pm
      • Monday, 9/10, at 7:00pm and 9:00pm
    • Labkit:
      • Sunday, 9/16, at 2:00pm, 7:00pm and 9:00pm
      • Monday, 9/17, at 7:00pm and 9:00pm

  • Lab 2 has been issued.

Week of September 3, 2007

  • This week's to-do list:

  • The first meeting of 6.111 will be at lecture on Wednesday, 9/5 at 1p in 34-101. Consult the Course calendar for schedule of lectures, labs and quizzes.

  • Please take a moment to read the Course info page which describes course mechanics and policies.

  • Gim Hom will be giving demos in the 6.111 lab (38-600) on how to use the logic analyzer and labkit -- info you'll want to know for completing the labs! Here's the demo schedule (each demo is offered multiple times):
    • Logic Analyzer:
      • Sunday, 9/9, at 7:00pm and 9:00pm
      • Monday, 9/10, at 7:00pm and 9:00pm
    • Labkit:
      • Sunday, 9/16, at 2:00pm, 7:00pm and 9:00pm
      • Monday, 9/17, at 7:00pm and 9:00pm

  • The TAs and LAs will start staffing the lab this Sunday (9/9). See the Lab Hours page for the current week's staffing schedule.

  • Lab #1 has been issued. Take the Lab Kit Signout form to the Instrument Room (38-601) after Thursday, 9/6 at 1pm to check out a kit of parts, tools and test equipment leads you'll need to work on the labs.