From Software to Silicon: The fusion of Programming and Chip Design

If you're a software developer looking to explore a new world of innovation, consider joining the 7nm open-source chip design movement. There's never been a better time to leverage your modern software practices into chip design and push the limits of what can be done.

In the world of chip design, there has been a growing movement towards embracing open-source tools and practices. The goal is to lower the barriers to access to silicon, while also pushing the limits of what can be done. Leveraging modern software practices in chip design is becoming more common, and open-source electronic design automation (EDA) tools and process design kits (PDKs) are becoming key components of research.

One of the advantages of the open-source chip design ecosystem is that it encourages reproducibility and reuse, leading to great educational content available online to everyone. Additionally, this ecosystem facilitates the development of the accompanying EDA tooling and open-source register transfer language (RTL) by a greater number of individuals.

While free software has been a component of the software industry for many years, a movement has begun among hardware developers to offer the same access to source material relating to chip design. Many behaviours in the hardware world are changing right now and adopting more of a software mindset. With open-source tools, you can audit the code and see exactly what you have on your chip, which gives you control over the toolchain.

An important program initially funded by the government to facilitate open-source chip design is known as OpenROAD. Led by Professor Andrew Khang at UCSD, the OpenROAD project was initiated to provide open-source semiconductor design automation tools. The goal is to develop an entirely open-source semiconductor manufacturing workflow. To promote this vision, the OpenROAD 7nm Physical Design Contest was created to showcase the benefits of open-source tools and practices. The contest features interesting design challenges at an advanced technology node (7nm) and is organized by The OpenROAD Project and VLSI System Design (VSD)

This unique event provides a platform for software developers to delve into the exciting world of chip design. With a focus on using programming skills to create cutting-edge chip designs, this event is the perfect opportunity for those with an electronics background who have transitioned to software. Don't miss this chance to explore a new frontier and take your programming skills to the next level. Register now to join us for this game-changing event! Register for the event using the below link:

All the best and happy learning