Introduction to Chip Design with Open-Source EDA Tools

Chips power the technology we rely on daily, from smartphones to self-driving cars. This course is your gateway to the fascinating world of chip design, using cutting-edge, free, open-source tools that make this complex process accessible to everyone. Whether you’re an aspiring engineer, a curious hobbyist, or someone exploring a career in hardware design, this course offers a hands-on, practical learning experience with tools like Magic, KiCAD, and OpenROAD. Through clear, step-by-step demonstrations, you’ll learn how to design chip layouts, simulate their functionality using NGSPICE, and validate them for real-world applications. Along the way, you’ll dive into essential concepts such as digital logic, layout creation, and simulation, all while solving practical design challenges. This content is designed for electrical engineering students, aspiring chip designers, open-source developers, and junior hardware engineers with a basic understanding of electronic circuits, familiarity with digital logic, and a strong interest in chip design. It provides foundational knowledge and practical insights to help kickstart your journey in the dynamic field of hardware engineering and open-source chip development. To get the most out of this course, learners should have a basic understanding of electronic circuits and be familiar with digital logic concepts. An interest in chip design is also essential, as the course dives into both theoretical and practical aspects of designing and validating logic circuits using open-source tools. Prior exposure to circuit simulation or related topics would be an added advantage but is not mandatory. By the end of this course, learners will be equipped to develop basic chip layouts using open-source EDA tools. They will analyze and evaluate the chip design workflow, applying core design principles effectively. Additionally, participants will gain the ability to design, simulate, and validate a functional logic circuit, while confidently utilizing open-source EDA tools to tackle real-world design challenges in the field of chip design.