ASIC Design Process

About this assessment

About this Assessment This comprehensive assessment is designed for professionals and enthusiasts involved in ASIC design and verification. Covering every stage of the ASIC design process, from initial specification and architecture to RTL design, synthesis, place and route, and post-silicon validation, it gives you a robust understanding of industry best practices. You'll explore detailed facets like functional verification, clock tree synthesis, and design rule checking, advancing your expertise from conceptualization to tapeout and fabrication. Ideal for engineers, researchers, and students eager to deepen their technical knowledge, this assessment not only tests current skills but also equips you with valuable insights to drive innovation and efficiency in your ASIC design projects.

This section will feature questions that test advanced knowledge related to defining functionality and performance goals in ASICs, evaluating power, area, and speed requirements, as well as selecting appropriate technology nodes such as 7nm, 5nm, and 3nm. The questions will cover systematic analysis, design trade-offs, and architectural specification in modern ASIC design.

This section covers advanced topics in RTL design including hardware description using Verilog or VHDL, detailed definition of logic functions, registers, and data paths in ASIC design.

This section tests advanced knowledge in simulation-based and formal verification methods using tools like Verdi, Questa, and VCS. It covers waveform analysis, exhaustive state verification, and robust testbench development to ensure design correctness.

This section tests advanced knowledge on the ASIC synthesis process, including the conversion of high-level RTL code into an optimized gate-level netlist and the optimization considerations for timing, power, and area using tools such as Design Compiler.

This section assesses advanced knowledge in ASIC physical design processes with a focus on floorplanning, placement, clock tree synthesis, and routing. Questions will explore critical tasks and challenges associated with establishing spatial design regions, achieving optimized cell placement, balancing clock distribution, and ensuring efficient signal routing.

This section evaluates advanced knowledge of the ASIC design process with emphasis on Design Rule Check (DRC) and Layout versus Schematic (LVS). The questions cover the verification process ensuring the design adheres to foundry guidelines, and that the physical layout accurately reflects the logical schematic.

This section tests advanced knowledge of the ASIC tapeout and fabrication process including aspects like final design verification, photolithography, etching, semiconductor foundry selection, design for manufacturability, and process challenges.

This section covers advanced topics on testing manufactured ASICs for functional correctness and the role of ATPG in detecting faults during post-silicon validation. Topics include methodologies for test pattern generation, fault simulation, and design-for-test strategies that ensure ASIC reliability.