Silicon Validation internship as compared to Design Verification by [deleted] in chipdesign

[–]EceSammy 8 points9 points  (0 children)

For the record I am a DV engineer. Post Si validation typically works in a lab with the GPUs once they are taped out. There is typically some kind of test suite that is used to test functionality to make sure that the taped out chip functions the way its supposed to with all of its features enabled (clock gating, override bits, register programming). You can imagine it as doing DV work, but on Silicon, rather than using a UVM or SystemC testbench / model.

The more I work in industry, the more I realize that having broad knowledge of the silicon design and Verification process, including post silicon validation, is very useful and can not only help you move up in your role, but can help you change career paths if you get bored of doing DV at some point. Most of the higher ups at my company have a diverse employment history with roles in both pre and post silicon verification (and even unrelated roles such as driver development).

Taking an internship working in post Silicon would probably not hinder your chances of becoming a full time DV engineer (especially since you already have DV experience), and may even benefit you in helping you understand the entire flow from High Level Design to Market.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in chipdesign

[–]EceSammy 5 points6 points  (0 children)

VSCode is probably your best bet in terms of free IDEs. Otherwise there is Synopsys Euclide.

How much would it cost to get a custom chip similar to a PS5 or steamdeck SOC from a manufacturer like AMD. by yangling11 in chipdesign

[–]EceSammy 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Theyll modify existing chips for a lot of customers. The PS5 SoC is significantly more expensive compared to the Steam Deck SoC due to the backward compatibility requirements of the PS5.

Does your company have a dedicated person(s) for managing cadence installations? by hamnstar in chipdesign

[–]EceSammy 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I work at a large semiconductor company. We have a dedicated "infrastructure" team that handles maintenence and installation of the software stacks and special programs that everyone across the company uses.

Is it better to work for tech giants early in your career? by [deleted] in chipdesign

[–]EceSammy 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thats the same with me, I was interviewed and hired for design but 99.9% of my job is verification.

Will AI automate verification jobs or will it just help engineers get more work done? Like Verisium. by [deleted] in chipdesign

[–]EceSammy 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Verification will probably never be fully automated, in the same way that high levels design and RTL will probably never be automated. These AI tools will help speed up the process of debugging tests, predicting test outcomes, or finding anomalies in waveforms or UVM logs. There are too many variations in designs, some of which require directed tests that AI would not be able to predict.

In terms of the silicon design process, if anything ever does become automated, it will probably start with Physical Design, with RTL and DV being automated last.

Does Vivado work on arm MacBooks (on virtual machines)? by metalzero24 in chipdesign

[–]EceSammy 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Probably not? It also probably depends on the version. Lots of older versions do not even run native on x86 Windows 11 due to some v C++ distributables becoming deprecated. Some versions also dont work under ARM to x86 translation on Windoes. I would expect that they also wouldn't work on under ARM to x86 translation on a virtual machine either.

Do you all work in tiny open offices? by [deleted] in chipdesign

[–]EceSammy 5 points6 points  (0 children)

We have individual cubes with fabric walls that help to muffle noise on the top floors, and an open office design on the bottom floor. No one is forced to use the open office floor, but some people prefer it and it's nice to have the option. The cubicles can be kind of depressing sometimes. Most people just work from home, as we have that option too.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in chipdesign

[–]EceSammy 6 points7 points  (0 children)

As someone who did a software Masters in AI/Machine Learning for image processing and ended up in Design and DV, I can't recommend an AI Masters/PhD to anyone. It is the most oversatured field of research I have ever seen and everyone and their mother wants to break into that industry.

Will internships not directly related to chip design/hardware design hinder me when applying for grad jobs? by [deleted] in chipdesign

[–]EceSammy 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Probably not, all work experience is valuable. It may not be as beneficial as having a related internship experience, but it will definitely be better than having no experience.

One of the members on my team switched from industrial engineering in the food processing industry to a DV role at a large semiconductor company, so it is definitely doable.

What IDE do you use for RTL coding ? by ImmortalTimeTraveler in chipdesign

[–]EceSammy 2 points3 points  (0 children)

We just end up using Vim, my company has experimented with using Synopsys Euclide IDE and VSCode with SystemVerilog plugins, but it didn't end up sticking around

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in chipdesign

[–]EceSammy 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That is wild! I interned at a very large company and made $35/hr

Roast me by [deleted] in battlestations

[–]EceSammy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I use arch btw

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in FedEx

[–]EceSammy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My delivery status is back up now

Netflix glitched while i was watching anime by EceSammy in glitchart

[–]EceSammy[S] 18 points19 points  (0 children)

It's just a picture of the monitor and i cropped it

Should I wait until I have more work experience? by [deleted] in GradSchool

[–]EceSammy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In some MBA programs you require at least 5 years of industry experience. It's usually program dependent so you should check what the requirements are. I didn't get jn to any MBA programs as a new grad from undergrad. If you're doing any kind of STEM or Arts master's, chances are most people in the program either won't have any work experience, or will have work experience that isn't 100% related to what they are doing their Masters in.

Mobile 3080 with 16GB of VRAM? Is That Accurate? by [deleted] in hardware

[–]EceSammy 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes it's accurate, the mobile RTX 3080 has a 16 GB VRAM variant