A tribute to opensource (EDA and ISA)

Hey There,

If you think, 7 years is too much of time we spent building our company, think of below people who have spent more than 20+ years building what they love.

Very few people know, the company we started 7 years back, was just after my post-graduation at IIT Bombay. And the reason to start this journey, was to create a well-defined path for people to know the power of opensource EDA tools. Why? Because, we studied all our coursework at IIT Bombay using all open-source tools (except for projects which were sponsored)

A good thing about IIT Bombay, is we built lot of open-source tools and were a big fan of them. But something was missing – a guideline. There was no book, material, online content, video, absolutely nothing which demonstrated “how to use opensource tools in real chip tape-out”.

I really feel so sorry for people who approach me asking if I (can) teach using commercial EDA tools. Of-course I can. In fact anybody, with a year or two experience with these tools, can. But, what they can’t, and we can, is the approach to tackle any complex design irrespective of tool. Believe me, industry is looking for these kind of candidates  

Let me give me you an example – You have an emergency and you need to rush to a hospital. Now you don’t have your favorite ‘xyz’ car with you, which you have driven for years and which you have expertise in. Does that mean, you will not use ‘abc’ car to go to hospital? If ‘abc’ car is broken, and if that’s the only car available, then you would learn how to quickly work-around ‘abc’ so that, it atleast takes you till the hospital. – This is what even VLSI industry is looking for and that’s how we were taught at IIT Bombay

Since then, we have promoted courses using a lot of open-source EDA tools like Opentimer for STA, qflow for Physical design, TL-verilog for pipelining, Yosys for Synthesis, Proton for EDA and many more. Not only that, we have organized an online conference (as you might be aware) and here’s the link with details:

https://www.vlsisystemdesign.com/vsdopen2018-2/

And after DARPA’s announcement on investing in opensource tools and SiFive’s initiative to release RISC-V cores, I would love to bring up this video again, which we had created as a tribute to open-source EDA tools. This was made 2-3 years back:

I will also be presenting hierarchical PNR approach using opensource EDA tools at RISC-V workshop at Chennai, at IIT Madras. Below is the link to enroll

https://tmt.knect365.com/risc-v-workshop-chennai/agenda/2#a-survey-of-e31-risc-v-core-floor-plan-and-its-impact-on-power-performance-and-area-ppa

“Embrace the change and be a part of it…”

All the best and happy learning….

Registration for Ethical RISC-V IoT Workshop

Welcome to Ethical RISC-V IoT Workshop

The “Ethical RISC-V IoT Workshop” at IIIT Bangalore, organized in collaboration with VSD, is a structured, educational competition aimed at exploring real-world challenges in IoT and embedded systems. Participants progress through three stages: building an application, injecting and managing faults, and enhancing application security. The event spans from May 9 to June 15, 2024, culminating in a showcase of top innovations and an award ceremony. This hands-on hackathon emphasizes learning, testing, and securing applications in a collaborative and competitive environment.

Rules :
  1. Only for Indian Student whose college is registered under VTU
  2. Only team of 2 members can Register
  3. Use only VSDSquadron Mini resources for product development
Awards :
  1. Prize money for final 10 Team
  2. 3 Winner team’s Product will be evaluated for Incubation
  3. 7 consolation prizes
  4. Completion Certificate to final round qualifier
  5. Chance to build a Proud Secured RISC-V Platform for India

Date for Registration : 9th May - 22nd May, 2024
Hackathon Inauguration : 23rd May 2024

VSDSquadron (Educational Board)

VSDSquadron, a cutting-edge development board based on the RISC-V architecture that is fully open-source. This board presents an exceptional opportunity for individuals to learn about RISC-V and VLSI chip design utilizing only open-source tools, starting from the RTL and extending all the way to the GDSII. The possibilities for learning and advancement with this technology are limitless.

Furthermore, the RISC-V chips on these boards should be open for VLSI chip design learning, allowing you to explore PNR, standard cells, and layout design. And guess what? vsdsquadron is the perfect solution for all your needs! With its comprehensive documentation and scalable labs, thousands of students can learn and grow together.

VSD HDP (Hardware Design Program) Duration-10 Week

With VSD Hardware Design Program (VSD-HDP),  you have the opportunity to push the boundaries of what exist in open source and establish the new benchmark for tomorrow.

It will leverage your degree in Electrical or Computer Engineering to work with

  • Programmable logic
  • Analog/ digital IP
  • RISC-V
  • Architecture & microprocessors
  • ASICs and SoCs on high-density digital or RF circuit cards
  • Gain hands-on knowledge during design validation and system integration.

Sounds exciting to just get started with expert mentors, doesn’t it? But we are looking for the next generation of learners, inventors, rebels, risk takers, and pioneers.

“Spend your summer working in the future !!”

Outcomes of VSD Online Research IP Design Internship Program

  1. Job opportunities in Semiconductor Industry
  2. Research work can be submitted to VLSI International journals
  3. Participate in Semiconductor International Conference with Internship Research Work
  4. Paper Publications in IEEE Conference and SIG groups
  5. Tape out opportunity and IP Royalty
  6. Interact with world class Semiconductor designer and researchers
  7. Academic professions where more research projects are encouraged.
  8. All the above research and publication work will help colleges and institutes to improve accreditation levels.

Know More Information

VSD – Intelligent Assessment Technology (VSD-IAT)

VSD – Intelligent Assessment Technology (VSD-IAT) is expertly built training platform and is suited for designer requirements. Semiconductor companies understand the value of training automation and Engineer performance enhancement, and do not need to be convinced of the impact of a virtual platform for learning. VSD trainings are quick, relevant, and easy to access from any device at any time zone.

VSD Intern Webinars

VSD Interns made it happen !!

VSD is working towards creating innovative talent pool who are ready to develop design and products for the new tech world. VSD believes in “Learning by doing principle” , and always prepare the student to apply the knowledge learned in the workshops, webinars and courses. We always push our students to work on new designs, test it and work continuously till it becomes the best performing design. Any student who enrolls to VSD community starts working with small design and grows with us and develops a tapeout level design with complete honesty and dedication towards the Work !!

Check out VSD Interns Achievement!

VSDOpen Online Conference

Welcome to the World’s only online conference in Semiconductor Industry VSDOpen Conference. With enormous support and global presence of audience from different segments of industrial lobby and academia made a highly successful event. Evolution is change in the genetic makeup of a population over time, online conference is one kind evaluation everyone adapt soon. 

  • VSDOpen 2022 is an online conference to share open-source research with the community and promote  hardware design mostly done by the student community.
  • VSDOpen 2022 is based on the theme “How to lower the cost to learn, build, and tapeout chips ?”  , which will provide a platform to community to build stronger designs and strengthen the future of Chip design.
  • VSDOpen is envisioned to create a community based revolution in semiconductor hardware technology.
  • The open source attitude is required to bring out the talent and innovation from the community who are in remote part of world and have least access to the technologies.  And now Google support will help to bring the vision to execution by VSD team

VSD Online Course by Kunal Ghosh

VSD offers online course in complete spectrum of vlsi backend flow from RTL design, synthesis and Verification, SoC planning and design, Sign-off analysis, IP Design, CAD/EDA automation and basic UNIX/IT, Introduction to latest technology – RISC-V, Machine intelligence in EDA/CAD, VLSI Interview FAQ’s.

Current Reach – As of 2021, VSD and its partners have released 41 online VLSI courses and was successfully able to teach  ~35900 Unique students around 151 countries in 47 different languages, through its unique info-graphical and technology mediated learning methods.

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