ROADMAPS

Specialization-specific learning paths

Our general VLSI Career Roadmap covers the journey from fundamentals to your first job. These roadmaps go one level deeper — the specific path for each specialization once you've chosen one.

Verification Engineer Roadmap

  1. 1. Digital logic + Verilog fundamentals
  2. 2. SystemVerilog OOP & constrained-random
  3. 3. UVM methodology & testbench architecture
  4. 4. Functional coverage & assertions (SVA)
  5. 5. Build a full UVM testbench project

RTL / Design Engineer Roadmap

  1. 1. Digital logic + Verilog fundamentals
  2. 2. FSM design & synthesizable coding style
  3. 3. Timing fundamentals (setup/hold, CDC)
  4. 4. Synthesis flow & optimization techniques
  5. 5. Build 2–3 complete RTL projects

Physical Design Engineer Roadmap

  1. 1. Digital logic + basic RTL literacy
  2. 2. STA fundamentals (setup/hold, slack)
  3. 3. Floorplanning, placement & CTS
  4. 4. Routing & sign-off checks (DRC/LVS)
  5. 5. Practice a full floorplan-to-signoff flow

DFT Engineer Roadmap

  1. 1. Digital logic + basic RTL literacy
  2. 2. Scan design & fault models
  3. 3. ATPG fundamentals
  4. 4. BIST & boundary scan (JTAG)
  5. 5. Study real test coverage reports

FPGA Engineer Roadmap

  1. 1. Digital logic + Verilog/VHDL fundamentals
  2. 2. FPGA architecture (LUTs, CLBs, Block RAM)
  3. 3. Timing closure on FPGA
  4. 4. Board-level debug (ILA, hardware bring-up)
  5. 5. Build and deploy a project on real hardware

ASIC Design Engineer Roadmap

  1. 1. Digital logic + RTL design
  2. 2. Synthesis & gate-level fundamentals
  3. 3. DFT insertion basics
  4. 4. Physical design overview end-to-end
  5. 5. Understand a full RTL-to-tapeout flow

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