VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration)

1. VLSI: Very-large-scale integration (VLSI) is the process of creating integrated circuits by combining thousands of transistor-based circuits into a single chip. VLSI began in the 1970s when complex semiconductor and communication technologies were being developed. The microprocessor is a VLSI device. The term is no longer as common as it once was, as chips have increased in complexity into the hundreds of millions of transistors. The links below are useful to know more about VLSI design.

VLSI System Design Lecture Slides
VLSI Circuit Design Lecture Slides
Microelectronic Devices and circuits Lecture notes
CAD for VLSI

2. ASIC ( Application Specific Integrated Circuit): A Chip that is customized for a particular use, rather than intended for general-purpose use such as a microprocessor. The use of ASICs improve performance over general-purpose CPUs, because ASICs are "hardwired" to do a specific job and do not incur the overhead of fetching and interpreting stored instructions. However, a standard cell ASIC may include one or more microprocessor cores and embedded software, in which case, it may be referred to as a "system on a chip" (SoC).

A full custom ASIC chip is the most costly, and like standard cell ASICs, use a custom-designed mask for every layer in the chip. Unlike standard cells, designers of a full custom device have total control over the size of every transistor forming every logic gate, so they can "fine tune" each gate for optimum performance. Thus, a full custom ASIC performs electronic operations as fast as it is possible to do so, providing that the circuit design is efficiently architected.

To know more visit the link below.

ASIC Design Flow Tutorial
Analog Design - For Analog design visit this site

3. Verilog: Verilog is a hardware description language (HDL) used to model electronic systems. The language (sometimes called Verilog HDL) supports the design, verification, and implementation of analog, digital, and mixed-signal circuits at various levels of abstraction.

The designers of Verilog wanted a language with syntax similar to the C programming language so that it would be familiar to engineers and readily accepted. The language is case-sensitive, has a preprocessor like C, and the major control flow keywords, such as "if" and "while", are similar. The formatting mechanism in the printing routines and language operators and their precedence are also similar.

The link below has tutorial for verilog. Go through it to gain some knowledge on verilog programming.

Verilog Tutorial

4. SystemVerilog is a combined Hardware Description Language and Hardware Verification Language based on extensions to Verilog. The link below consists of tutorials for learning SystemVerilog.

SystemVerilog Tutorial

5. SystemC is often thought of as a hardware description language like VHDL and Verilog, but is more aptly described as a system description language, since it exhibits its real power during transaction-level modeling and behavioral modeling. SystemC is a set of library routines and macros implemented in C++, which makes it possible to simulate concurrent processes, each described by ordinary C++ syntax. The link below has tutorials for learning SystemC.

SystemC Tutorial

6. Specman: It is an EDA tool for functional verification of digital system / integrated circuit design, usually in RTL. Verification engineers implement verification environments using e, the first commercial Aspect-oriented programming language. e is currently a proprietary language of Cadence. Specman was originally created by Verisity, which has since been bought by Cadence.
Below are the tutorial links for learning Specman.
Specman Tutorial
Specman Verification

Mobile Phones

1. Cell Phone: A mobile telephone or cellular telephone (commonly, "mobile phone" or "cell phone") is a long-range, portable electronic device used for mobile communication. In addition to the standard voice function of a telephone, current mobile phones can support many additional services such as SMS for text messaging, email, packet switching for access to the Internet, and MMS for sending and receiving photos and video.

To know how cell phones work, visit the link below which gives a complete tutorial on the working principle of cell phones.

How Cell Phone Works

2. Cell Phone Virus: A mobile virus is an electronic virus that targets cell phones or wireless-enabled PDAs.

As wireless phone and PDA networks become more numerous and more complex, it has become more difficult to secure them against electronic attacks in the form of viruses or other malicious software (also known as malware). Visit the links below to know how cell phone virus works and how to protect them against virus.

How Cell Phone Virus Works
Cell Phone Security

3. For those who are buying a new mobile go through the links below for latest prices and reviews.

Cell Phone Reviews
Latest Cell Phone Updates
Mobile Shopping
Cell Phone World
Cell Phone Prices and Ratings

Linux World

1. LINUX is a Unix-like computer operating system. Linux is one of the most prominent examples of free software and open source development; its underlying source code can be modified, used, and redistributed by anyone, freely. To know everything about linux visit the links below.

Why Linux
Everything about LINUX
Linux News

2. Linux Distribution (Distro): A Linux distribution, often simply distribution or distro, is a member of the Linux family of Unix-like operating systems comprising the Linux kernel, the non-kernel parts of the GNU operating system, and assorted other software. Linux distributions take a variety of forms, from fully-featured desktop and server operating systems to minimal environments (typically for use in embedded systems, or for booting from a floppy). There are currently over three hundred Linux distribution projects in active development, constantly revising and improving their respective distributions. To know about the ranking of distros and their performance visit the site below. It has a list of all the distros available and you can also download the distros of your choice from this site. It also has the ranking for the linux versions available.

Linux Distros

3. Unix/Linux Commands: A Command Line Interface or CLI is a method of interacting with an operating system or software using a command line interpreter. This command line interpreter may be a text terminal, terminal emulator, or remote shell client such as PuTTY.

The links below have a complete unix/linux commands with examples.

Unix/Linux Commands
Unix Toolbox - Collection of Unix/Linux/BSD/Solaris commands and tasks which are useful for IT work or for advanced users
Unix Practical - Practice unix without even installing it. Check out this cool feature.
Linux Commands ( A to Z)
Unix Course Online

4. Debian/Ubuntu :

Audio Converter - Perl Audio converter for converting multiple audio types.
Multimedia Encoders/Decoders - Visit this link for multimedia encoders/decoders.

5. Migration towards Ext4 file system:

Ext4 is a new file system in development, which is going to replace the current Ext3 file system in use in Linux now. For more details read the below article on Ext4 file system.

Ext4 File system

6. GDB Debugger:

GDB, the GNU Project debugger, is a very good debugging tool which allows you to see what is going on inside another program while it executes or what another program was doing at the moment it crashed.

It is a very nice tool which helps to find out where exactly the code crashed. This tool comes with all linux operating systems and is useful for debugging the C/C++ codes executed using the gcc compiler.

GDB can do four main kinds of things (plus other things in support of these) to help you catch bugs in the act:

• Start your program, specifying anything that might affect its behavior.
• Make your program stop on specified conditions.
• Examine what has happened, when your program has stopped.
• Change things in your program, so you can experiment with correcting the effects of one bug and go on to learn about another.

The program being debugged can be written in Ada, C, C++, Objective-C, Pascal (and many other languages). Those programs might be executing on the same machine as GDB (native) or on another machine (remote). GDB can run on most popular UNIX and Microsoft Windows variants.

For more information on how to use the gdb debugger go through the link below. Here one can find a step by step explanation of using the debugger tool. May be this can help you understand it better.

GDB Debugger Tutorial

Networking Concepts

A computer network is composed of multiple computers connected together using a telecommunication system for the purpose of sharing data, resources and communication. For instance, a home computer network may consist of two or more computers that share files and a printer using the network. The size and scalability of any computer network are determined by the hardware used as well as which protocols are being implemented.

1. TCP/IP : TCP/IP protocol suite, which is named after two of the most important protocols in it: the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and the Internet Protocol (IP), which were also the first two networking protocols defined. Today's TCP/IP networking represents a synthesis of two developments that began in the 1970's, namely LAN's (Local Area Networks) and the Internet, both of which have revolutionized computing. The link below is a guide to TCP/IP protocol.

TCP/IP Guide

Job Opportunities

The links below have a list of some of the top VLSI companies operating in INDIA.
Some VLSI Companies in INDIA
Companies working in the field of VLSI Design In India

Web Security

1. In computing, phishing is a criminal activity using social engineering techniques. Phishers attempt to fraudulently acquire sensitive information, such as usernames, passwords and credit card details, by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication.

Go through the links below to get a complete idea about the latest phishing attacks and the related measures to avoid them.

Anti-Phishing
Phishing News
Hacking Threats

Anti-Phishing Products :
i) Guard ID
ii) e-tokens
iii) KeyLok

2. Computer Security and Hacking -- Visit this link to know how to protect your computer from threats

Computer Programming

1. C: It is a general-purpose, block structured, procedural, imperative computer programming language developed in 1972 by Dennis Ritchie at the Bell Telephone Laboratories for use with the Unix operating system. It has since spread to many other platforms. Although predominantly used for system software, C is also widely used for applications. C has also greatly influenced many other popular languages, especially C++, which was designed as an enhancement to C. To know more about C programming visit the link below.

C Language

2. C++: It is a general-purpose, high-level programming language with low-level facilities. It is a statically typed free-form multi-paradigm language, supporting procedural programming, data abstraction, object-oriented programming, and generic programming. Since the 1990s, C++ has been one of the most popular commercial programming languages.

To Learn C++ easily visit the links below.

Learning C++ made easy
C++ Reference

3. Java: It is a programming language originally developed by Sun Microsystems and released in 1995. Java applications are typically compiled to bytecode, although compilation to native machine code is also possible.The language, widely considered to be the most popular platform for web development, derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities. For learning java programming go through the link below.

JAVA Programming

4. Shell Scripting : A shell script is a script written for the shell, or command line interpreter, of an operating system. It is often considered a simple domain-specific programming language. Typical operations performed by shell scripts include file manipulation, program execution, and printing text. The link below gives more information about unix shell scripting.

UNIX Shell Scripting

5. Perl : It is a dynamic programming language created by Larry Wall and first released in 1987. Perl borrows features from a variety of other languages including C, shell scripting (sh), AWK, sed and Lisp. More about perl in the link below.

PERL Programming

6. Algorithms: Algorithm is any well-defined computational procedure that takes some value, or set of values, as input and produces some value, or set of values as output." In other words, algorithms are like road maps for accomplishing a given, well-defined task. So, a chunk of code that calculates the terms of the Fibonacci sequence is an implementation of a particular algorithm. Even a simple function for adding two numbers is an algorithm in a sense, albeit a simple one.
The link below has lecture notes on introduction to algorithms. Please visit the link to gain a good knowledge on algorithms.

Introduction to Algorithms

7. TCL: Tcl is a software package which provides an extensible command-line interface and scripting language. Tcl is an acronym for Tool Command Language. The TCL language is normally interpreted, so TCL applications will normally not run as fast as equivalent C programs. For a large class of applications this is not a disadvantage, however, since the speed of processing of modern computer systems is more than adequate. Where speed of processing is essential, use can be made of a TCL compiler, or processing can be carried out in a compiled language, such as C or C++, and the user interface written in TCL.
The link below has a tutorial for learning TCL.

TCL Tutorial

8. W3Schools -- Interactive learning of many languages with examples.

Electronics

1. ATA (Advanced Technology Attachment) is the official name that American National Standards Institute group X3T10 uses for what the computer industry calls Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE). The link below gives a clear idea about the ATA.

Advanced Technology Attachment(ATA)

2. To know about IDE controllers and their working principles go through the link below

IDE Controllers

3. Hard Disk: A hard disk drive (HDD), commonly referred to as a hard drive or hard disk, is a non-volatile storage device which stores digitally encoded data on rapidly rotating platters with magnetic surfaces. For detailed information visit the link below.

Hard Disk Drive (HDD)

4. RAM (Random Access Memory): Random access memory (usually known by its acronym, RAM) is a type of data storage used in computers. It takes the form of integrated circuits that allow the stored data to be accessed in any order — that is, at random and without the physical movement of the storage medium or a physical reading head.
To know more about the importance of RAM and its working go through the links below.

How RAM Works
Importance of RAM Size
Different Memory Types
Choose the best RAM for your Motherboard -- Enter your motherboard specifications and find out which RAM will be best for your system.

5. Flash Memory: It is non-volatile computer memory that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. It is a technology that is primarily used in memory cards, USB flash drives (thumb drives, handy drive, memory stick, flash stick, jump drive), which are used for general storage and transfer of data between computers and other digital products. It is a specific type of EEPROM that is erased and programmed in large blocks; in early flash the entire chip had to be erased at once. Flash memory costs far less than byte-programmable EEPROM and therefore has become the dominant technology wherever a significant amount of non-volatile, solid-state storage is needed. Examples of applications include PDAs and laptop computers, digital audio players, digital cameras and mobile phones. It has also gained some popularity in the game console market, where it is often used instead of EEPROMs or battery-powered static RAM (SRAM) for game save data.

Go through the link below to know more about flash memory.

More about Flash Memory
Types of Memory Cards
All About Memory Cards

6. Graphics Card: Video or graphics circuitry, usually fitted to a card but sometimes found on the motherboard itself, is responsible for creating the picture displayed by a monitor. On early text-based PCs this was a fairly mundane task. However, the advent of graphical operating systems dramatically increased the amount of information needing to be displayed to levels where it was impractical for it to be handled by the main processor. The solution was to off-load the handling of all screen activity to a more intelligent generation of graphics card.
To know how graphics cards work visit the link below.

How Graphics Cards Work

7. Facts of Basic Electronics

Please visit the above link for very good articles on basic electronis stuff which we come across in our day to day life.