As we all know, digital back-end design is an essential link in IC design. Digital back-end engineers convert gate-level netlists into standard GDS files, also known as design implementation or physical design. As the so-called front-end guarantees the correct function, the back-end guarantees the correct implementation of the chip.
What does a digital backend engineer do?
The main job of the digital chip back-end engineer is to receive the code submitted by the digital front-end, and finally deliver a complete chip layout and routing result.
It is a technology that combines the beauty of form with the requirements of engineering practice. The beauty of form comes directly from functional content and requirements. In the link of back-end design, tens of thousands of standard units are scattered like stars, but on the premise of satisfying functions and timing, we seek the dependence between each block. Relationship, and then make the inside of the chip appear harmonious and stable.
The technical content of the digital backend is not low, so if you want to get started, you must spend time, energy and even money to supplement your basic knowledge intensively.
What skills are needed?
Many students want to distinguish the ability of back-end design from other positions. So listing this skill tree looks clearer and more intuitive.
Theoretical knowledge
The basics of digital electronics, analog electronics, and semiconductors are all very basic theoretical knowledge.
Back-end learning needs to pay more attention to the underlying principles of circuit implementation.
Although it is not required to reach the point of proficiency, it also needs to reach the level of basic mastery.
Languages
Because digital back-end engineers also need to run some automated tasks, they also need to master some necessary scripting languages.
In addition to Verilog, which is necessary for Icers, TCL and Perl are the mainstream scripting languages currently in use.
Tools
With the development, the integration of digital chips is getting higher and higher, so there are more and more transistors. As the process node continues to shrink, there are more and more things to do on the back end.
Reflected in the back-end design work, the back-end design is increasingly dependent on tools.
The skills that each platform needs to master are different, and it is usually enough to learn one tool for each platform.
The ones listed in the picture are also the most authoritative tools currently used in the industry.
Environment class
Like front-end design engineers and functional verification engineers, back-end design engineers also need to use EDA tools.
As mentioned before, EDA tools basically provide the Linux version, so you need to be proficient in common commands and operations in the Linux environment.
Comprehensive ability
Back-end design requires higher English reading and writing skills, so English reading and writing skills can also be used to judge your fit with this position.
Communication skills, learning skills, and teamwork skills are relatively basic professional qualities, so I won’t repeat them here. ,
To what extent do you generally have to master the interview?
For fresh graduates, the inspection is more about the knowledge in books. Basically, the interview questions are relatively basic, and they are not very good at examining some knowledge in functional applications. The inspection mainly focuses on some basic concepts and mastery of basic knowledge.
If you are a fresh graduate, you still need to spend more time on book knowledge, but if you have the opportunity, it is better to be able to do internships and get in touch with more engineering applications. In this way, you will get in touch with the actual situation and results, and the depth of your answering questions will definitely be different from just reading things in books. Therefore, it is recommended that you do more internships, or do some real projects with your mentors.
This project is an aes computing module using tsmc28nm technology. The project implementation process covers digital back-end APR, STA, Formal and other processes. The module scale reaches 20W+instance, the working frequency is 500Mhz, and the module size is 1mm*1mm.
All technical positions mainly look at two points : professional skills (skills) and project experience (experience). So in addition to the skills listed above, it is also very important to have worked on one or two projects, especially the debugging experience accumulated during the project.
In fact, the digital backend needs to learn a lot of knowledge. It requires a very good understanding of the design process, proficient use of EDA tools, and mastering the specific work content and skills of different sections.
Digital Backend Implementation
If you want to know more about the IC back-end entry threshold, entry requirements, content to learn, employment salary, etc., you can click below to learn more.
Put a mouth here: Getting started with IC backend