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curriculum/VLSI Design
section 20 of 221 min read

20. Things to Try, Hands-On

You don't need a $20B fab to get your hands dirty.

  1. Magic / OpenLane: Open-source EDA flow that takes Verilog to GDS using the SkyWater 130 nm PDK. Synthesize, place-and-route, and view the layout, all on a laptop. Submit to Tiny Tapeout for actual silicon for ~$100.
  2. iCE40 + yosys + nextpnr: An iCE40 board (TinyFPGA, iCEBreaker, Upduino) costs under $50 and runs the open-source toolchain. Build a UART, a VGA generator, or fit a small RISC-V (PicoRV32) into iCE40-HX8K.
  3. Read a real chip: TechInsights publishes die photos of every flagship CPU, GPU, and SoC. Compare M3 vs M4 floorplans to see how Apple uses extra area.
  4. ChipWhisperer power-analysis attack: a $250 board for hands-on DPA against AES on a small target. End-to-end you see CMOS leakage exposing a key. Do not skip this exercise; it is the most direct "VLSI to security" experience available.
  5. Read TSMC, Samsung, Intel public process briefs: VLSI Symposium, IEDM, ISSCC papers are free and surprisingly readable.