uwloo

ECE 124Digital Circuits and Systems

Units
0.50
Faculty
Engineering
Subject
Electrical and Computer Engineering

When it runs

  1. F24
  2. W25
  3. S25
  4. F25
  5. W26
  6. S26
  7. F26
  8. W27
  9. S27

Ran in 5 of the last 7 terms. Winter 2027: scheduled, 3 lecture sections. Spring 2027: schedule not out yet.

Number systems and Boolean arithmetic. Boolean algebra and simplification of Boolean functions. Combinational circuits. Sequential circuits; design and implementation. Hardware description languages. Timing analysis. Implementation technologies.

Prerequisites

Antirequisites

None listed.

Leads to

Winter 2027 sections

Enrolment from UW Open Data, which can trail Quest by up to two days. Instructors and rooms: Schedule of Classes.
SectionClassEnrolledMeets
LEC 00145560 / 144M 12:30–13:20
W 13:30–14:20
F 12:30–13:20
M 12:30–13:20
W 13:30–14:20
F 12:30–13:20
Feb 5 15:30–16:20
Feb 12 15:30–16:20
Mar 19 15:30–16:20
Feb 26 12:30–14:20
LEC 00245940 / 147MWF 08:30–09:20
MWF 08:30–09:20
Jan 28 11:30–12:20
Feb 4 11:30–12:20
Mar 18 11:30–12:20
Feb 26 12:30–14:20
LEC 7011870124 / 9999Online or by arrangement
LAB 20145600 / 48Jan 19 08:30–11:20
Feb 2 08:30–11:20
Feb 23 08:30–11:20
Mar 16 08:30–11:20
Mar 30 08:30–11:20
LAB 20245610 / 48Jan 20 08:30–11:20
Feb 3 08:30–11:20
Feb 24 08:30–11:20
Mar 17 08:30–11:20
Mar 31 08:30–11:20
LAB 20345620 / 48Jan 21 08:30–11:20
Feb 4 08:30–11:20
Feb 25 08:30–11:20
Mar 18 08:30–11:20
Apr 1 08:30–11:20
LAB 20445960 / 50Jan 14 13:30–16:20
Jan 28 13:30–16:20
Feb 11 13:30–16:20
Mar 11 13:30–16:20
Mar 25 13:30–16:20
LAB 20545970 / 50Jan 12 13:30–16:20
Jan 26 13:30–16:20
Feb 9 13:30–16:20
Mar 9 13:30–16:20
Mar 23 13:30–16:20
LAB 20645980 / 50Jan 13 13:30–16:20
Jan 27 13:30–16:20
Feb 10 13:30–16:20
Mar 10 13:30–16:20
Mar 24 13:30–16:20
TUT 10145570 / 48M 15:30–16:20
M 15:30–16:20
TUT 10245580 / 48M 15:30–16:20
M 15:30–16:20
TUT 10345590 / 48M 15:30–16:20
M 15:30–16:20
TUT 10445950 / 147T 11:30–12:20
T 11:30–12:20

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Reviewed on UW Flow

79% liked it52% easy83% useful

From 592 ratings and 104 comments on UW Flow. The most helpful comments, quoted as written, without names. Read them all on UW Flow.

  • This course is very enjoyable, likely my favourite of the term. Pre midterm material is very easy and straight forward; above a 90 on the midterm is not difficult to obtain (prof depending). Post midterm gets slightly more challenging, but with practice, it is again, not too difficult. Prof Wasef is by far the greatest professor I have encountered in ECE. He is extremely caring for his students and has very fair expectations. He will refuse to move onto more material until the entire class has understood the current material. He once redid and entire lecture as he could tell the class didn't understand it the first time. Phenomenal professor, if you ever have Prof. Wasef, you lucked out.

    Sep 2024 · liked it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • The first half of this course is pretty easy. Boolean algebra, Logic Gates, K-maps, Min Max terms, Tabular method, decoders and encoders. Mid term was rather easy. Labs sucked. They were far too long and the instructions were unclear. But they were doable and if you managed to finish them, you were pretty much guaranteed to pass.
    But then we get to the second half. Flip-flops, shift registers, counters, synchronous and asynchronous circuits. Race conditions, clocks, bit adders. It escalates so much. The final was fair, but very very long.

    Oct 2023 · liked it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Genuinely the worst academic experience I've had in my entire life. The lecture slides themselves were often difficult to understand, and Pin-Han Ho's lecture videos consisted of him reading from them verbatim in a thick and sometimes incomprehensible accent. Even though our profs implemented weekly quizzes after the midterm to ease some of the weight off of the final exam, (1) the diagrams were low-res and difficult to read, (2) on one occasion the quiz was unreasonably long, and many people didn't finish it in the provided time, and (3) the marking process was a bit disorganized, with the feedback being vague or even nonexistent. The final was the cherry on top of the disaster heap of ECE…

    Mar 2021 · didn’t like it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • This is legit the worst course I have ever taken in my life. It's muddling, it's unstructured, and it has no use in my future career at all. In comparison, ECE106 is so much better than this nonsense.

    Mar 2021 · didn’t like it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

  • Didn't really enjoy the course. Quizzes kicked my ass because I didn't prepare enough, but I was able to keep my mark up with the final and labs. Do all of the assignments even though they're not for marks!

    Dec 2015 · didn’t like it · 1 found this helpfulOn UW FlowRemove this

Discussed on r/uwaterloo

310 posts and comments in 237 threads mention ECE 124, July 2012 to December 2024. Quoted word for word, newest first; each reply sits under the post and the comment that started its branch. Search r/uwaterloo for newer posts.

Fall 2024

Spring 2024

Winter 2024

May fail ECE124 3 points, 5 comments

u/Safe_Locksmith395: “I did very bad at lab and midterm(only got 56% on midterm, and expect to get 60\65% in lab), what should I do?”

u/Safe_Locksmith395: “I have trouble doing lab with partner”

u/microwavemasterrace: “1. Stop doing your partner in lab 2. Study and internalize the materials. Watch YouTube videos, etc. ECE 124 is fundamental to everything else. 3. ECE 106 usually gets curved, though my info is 10+ years out of date”

u/Safe_Locksmith395: “Yes, I stop doing with my partner, but I studied the material and still could not understand what should I do in ECE124 lab, this makes me lose some mark”

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