You will explore the evolution of Verilog and how SystemVerilog has expanded on its capabilities. You will learn about the key differences between Verilog and SystemVerilog, including new data types, enhanced design flexibility, and advanced verification techniques. The course also covers how SystemVerilog introduces powerful tools for verification, such as assertions, randomization, and functional coverage, to simplify and improve the design process. You should be familiar with the extensions introduced by SystemVerilog, its added features for both designers and verification engineers, and how these tools can be integrated into your design flow.

You will learn about the new and improved data types introduced in SystemVerilog. These include a new data type called "logic" and the introduction of relaxed data type rules. You will also explore the 2-state value types, which offer a more efficient way to model data, and how these can be used in both design and verification. Additionally, you will understand the significance of unsized literals and time literals, which provide better control over timing and precision in SystemVerilog designs. You will be able to use SystemVerilog's enhanced data types to streamline your design process and improve simulation accuracy.

Understand SystemVerilog's enhancements to procedural blocks and statements that simplify coding and improve clarity for synthesis tools. Key features include the ability to reuse block names, declare local variables without naming blocks, and use loops like do…while and foreach. Learn to specify complete case and if statements using priority and unique keywords. Use the "iff" keyword to qualify events and apply the always_comb, always_latch, and always_ff blocks to clearly define synthesis intent.

Understand the new and modified operators introduced in SystemVerilog for easier programming. This includes C-like assignment operators, pre/post-increment and decrement operators, and enhanced assignment patterns. Additionally, SystemVerilog offers unique operators not found in C, such as wild equality/inequality operators and the set membership (inside) operator. Learn about operator precedence and associativity to effectively use these operators in your designs.

Understand and utilize user-defined data types in SystemVerilog, including both primitive and custom types. This includes defining new types using the typedef keyword, creating enumerated types to improve code readability, and utilizing packed and unpacked arrays and structures for efficient data management. Additionally, knowledge of package and compilation unit scope name spaces will allow for better organization and encapsulation of code, promoting modularity and reuse. Mastery of these concepts is essential for effective design and implementation in SystemVerilog, enhancing the capability to develop complex hardware descriptions while maintaining clarity and structure in the code.

Apply various SystemVerilog features that enhance hierarchical design. This includes utilizing implicit port connections such as .name and .* for easier module interaction, which streamlines the process of connecting modules without explicitly specifying each port. Additionally, you will learn about the compilation unit scope name space and how it relates to $unit, enabling better organization and management of design files. Understanding package name space and the process of importing declarations will allow for more efficient reuse of code across different modules. Furthermore, you will explore how to use $root to reference the hierarchy's root and how nested module declarations can help structure complex designs more intuitively. Mastering these features will facilitate the development of modular, scalable, and maintainable designs in SystemVerilog.

You will explore the advanced array capabilities introduced in SystemVerilog. You will examine the key enhancements that SystemVerilog provides for arrays, including unpacked multidimensional arrays and packed arrays, as well as the combination of both packed and unpacked arrays in designs. A deeper understanding of these arrays will allow you to analyze their differences, particularly the structural contrast between packed and unpacked arrays, and how they impact memory storage and data access. Additionally, you will learn about the powerful array-querying system functions available in SystemVerilog, which help to determine the size, dimensions, and bounds of arrays, enhancing the flexibility and efficiency of your designs.

Describe and utilize the enhancements made to tasks and functions in SystemVerilog. This includes understanding the new optional begin…end block for better readability and flexibility in defining subroutines. The ability for functions to have output and inout arguments expands their usability, allowing for more complex data interactions. Furthermore, functions can now return the void data type, which provides the option to have functions that perform actions without needing to return a specific value. It is important to note that both tasks and functions can return early before reaching their completion, making code execution more efficient. Default parameter values simplify function calls by allowing for optional parameters, and binding arguments by name offers clarity in complex function calls. Additionally, being able to pass arguments by reference or by value provides versatility in how data is handled within tasks and functions. Mastering these enhancements will significantly improve the ability to create more effective and flexible designs in SystemVerilog.

Investigate the benefits and capabilities of SystemVerilog interfaces by understanding their role in simplifying design block communication. You will explore how interfaces allow multiple signals to be represented as a single port, reducing code verbosity and promoting code reuse. By learning the importance of generic and parameterized interfaces, you can raise the level of design abstraction, where all declarations are in a single location, making the design more readable and manageable. Interfaces also support encapsulation through tasks and functions, allowing you to define inter-module communication protocols within the interface. For example, you could implement a “Bus Read” task that executes inside the interface. Additionally, you will learn about modports, which allow different views of an interface, enabling the definition of distinct roles such as “master” and “slave” views for a bus with shared signals but differing port declarations and restricted capabilities.