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Master's programme in System-on-Chip Design

For more than 20 years, integrated electronics has been the major technological force shaping our everyday lives. Today’s trend is shifting from personal computers to personal communication and computing, where system knowledge and expertise is encapsulated into single-chip solutions incorporating both hardware and software.

Complete curriculum

Printable programme syllabus and course descriptions:
2013/2014

Programme in short

Admission requirements:
A Bachelor’s degree (or equivalent) of at least 180 ECTS. Specific requirements as specified by each Master’s programme.
Degree awarded:
Master of Science (120 credits). The degree gives access to third cycle qualifications (doctorate).
Duration:
120 credits/120 ECTS credits (two years). The system is compatible with ECTS credits. It is a full-time study programme.
Location:
KTH Kista
Programme start:
Late August
Application deadline:
January 15
Language of instruction:
English
The grading scale is:
A-Excellent, B-Very Good, C-Good, D-Satisfactory, E-Sufficient. No overall grade is given for a degree and students are not ranked.
Contact:
Programme Director
Elena Dubrova
Programme Coordinator
May-Britt Eklund Larsson
soc.masters@ict.kth.se

Programme outline

The System-on-Chip Design master’s programme includes all the key areas of knowledge and skills required to command the system-on-chip technology, namely hardware design, embedded software design, analogue circuit and radio design, systems engineering and extensive practical project work. The programme begins with a mandatory block of courses, which is followed by one of two specializations. The ASIC/SoC Design track addresses the problem of chip-level design and integration of functional blocks and integrated circuits in nanoscale CMOS technology. It covers the details of circuit design methodology and tools, trade-off analysis between power, area and performance, and hardware implementation in silicon technology. It bridges circuit design and nanoscale technologies to architectural strategies and provides an understanding of the future development in this field. The Embedded Electronics track addresses the problem of designing, assembling, dimensioning and verifying embedded systems including the embedded software. It covers the details of the digital design flow, the verification of embedded systems, and the hardware dependent software layers.

Career prospects

Potential employers of the System-on-Chip Design programme graduates are companies that design and develop electronic components and embedded systems in the telecom, automotive, automation, security, consumer electronics and a variety of other industries. Due to the international setting of the programme, the graduates are well suited to work in global corporations on any continent. A relatively large proportion of graduates have pursued PhD studies at universities in Sweden and abroad.

Degree project

The degree project may be carried out at KTH, at other universities, research institutes or at a company in Sweden or abroad. Projects in industry are particularly encouraged.