Today, VLSI or Very Large Scale Integration professionals are in high demand. VLSI holds good prospects for those pursuing a career in electronics. It is a solid choice for students of Electronics and Communications Engineering (ECE) to jumpstart their careers and advance rapidly for growth.
VLSI provides enormous job opportunities across the globe, and its demand in India is growing tremendously. Encouraged by the Indian Government’s “Make in India” initiative, the VLSI sector attracts enormous investments. The most glaring example is the recently concluded deal of the Vedanta- Foxconn project for setting up semiconductor manufacturing units in Gujarat worth USD 19.5 billion.
Why is VLSI gaining traction?
Before highlighting the reasons for the extreme attention that VLSI is receiving today, you must understand its significance in a highly digitalized environment. VLSI is a work process of the chip-making or semiconductor industry that focuses on the designing aspect for packing millions of tiny transistors into a single chip.
Chips have widespread applications in various electronic devices, from televisions to smartphones to automobiles, refrigerators to washing machines, and air conditioners to speakers, computers, and many more devices.
Since chips are the driving force behind most devices of our everyday life, their demand has outgrown the supply potential. The stupendous demand for chips has resulted in a global shortage that turned the focus on VLSI for producing circuit designs faster. Naturally, the need for VLSI experts is increasing at a phenomenal rate.
Who can become a VLSI engineer?
The VLSI branch is designed for Electronics and Communications Engineering students who are indispensable to the semiconductor industry. Even software developers, IT engineers, and students of Computer Science with a firm hold on digital fundamentals and knowledge of software programming and semiconductor physics can pursue a career in VLSI.
VLSI design – knowledge and skill requirements
The VLSI design process entails HDLs or hardware description languages like Verilog and VHDL ( high-speed integrated circuit hardware description language). To bag a job in the category, you must be well conversant with Verilog, UVM (Universal Verification Methodology), and System Verilog.
You must have a firm grasp of OOPS (Object Oriented Programming) concepts besides having good skills in the scripting language. Since the design process is a team game, VLSI professionals must be familiar with group dynamics that help them become strong team members. You must be ready to work hard with high enthusiasm and be creative and innovative.
Roles for VLSI experts
SoC Verification Engineer – The engineer is responsible for verifying a design’s functionality with the help of System Verilog and UVM, both High-Level Verification Languages. Those with solid knowledge of logic design, protocols, and mastery over scripting languages and SV/UVM programming are the best candidates for the role. SoC Verification Engineers work closely with RTL Design Engineers to identify and report bugs in the design.
Frontend RTL Design Engineer – The incumbent, creates and implements design with the help of Verilog. Knowledge about digital design concepts is essential, and the ability to read and interpret design specifications for its subsequent translation into Verilog code with the help of RTL design according to the coding guidelines. Knowledge about debugging and ASIC/SoC design flow is a must.
Application Engineer – Applications Engineers help customers with product adoption after purchasing. They arrange for pre-sales product demos to convince customers about the effectiveness of the product in meeting their requirements. Besides solid technical knowledge and product know-how, candidates must have strong communications and interpersonal skills to engage with customers effectively and gain their confidence.
CAD Engineer – IC designing involves several steps while using various software tools. It’s a highly iterative process that entails multiple input files in each stage and repeating the steps several times. CAD Engineers help to automate parts of the design flow to speed up the process. The engineer must be well-conversant with the entire design flow from end to end and have a complete grasp of scripting, EDA tool usage, and QA (Quality Assurance).
Corporate Application Engineer (CAC) – The CAEs extend technical assistance to the production team, clients and customers. They help customers with product selection based on their requirements. They have to write knowledge-based articles, conduct seminars /webinars, write user guides, and conduct training events.
Field Application Engineer (FAE) – The engineer must be highly proficient in technology as they have to participate in pre-sales and after-sales activities.
They must have expertise in product functionality, design flow, and instruments to help adopt the related solutions by coordinating between the R&D dept and customers.
Several VSLI job opportunities are available across a wide range of international and local companies covering various industrial segments from Product and IP companies to EDA and Service companies.
The VLSI technology is here to stay and the future looks even more promising for this domain. The job market currently presents a great opportunity for those who are skilled in this area. If you want to take advantage of this situation, enroll for our vlsi course today and increase your employability tomorrow.
