However, most of it was already known and i was looking for something more specific/detailed given the OP article.
In the past i had worked on a custom SoC (on the software side) and had often interacted with the hardware designers to understand more of their domain. The first surprise was that most Verilog/RTL guys didn't know anything about software (not even assembly/C!) while of course embedded software guys (like myself) didn't know anything about HDLs. There was (and is) a very hard disconnect which is quite interesting. In the spirit of the OP article, the book i linked to actually shows a path via Vivado HLS for software folks to move into hardware design using their C/C++ programming skills. But i would like to see some hardware designer here validate that approach in the real-world. Especially now that you have powerful AI tools available to help you do stuff faster and easier.
With the rise of demanding AI/ML/Crypto applications, there is now a greater interest in designing new types of custom hardware requiring Hardware/Software Modeling(verification/benchmarking)/Co-Design/Co-Verification etc. They involve designing complete SoCs containing CPU/GPU/FPGAs based on specific designs. Given that hardware design is a universe of its own, not knowing the overall picture i.e. architecture/tools/methodologies/etc. makes it quite daunting for software folks to approach it.
PS: Maybe you can augment/create-new blog post with an actual case study based on your experiences on steps involved going from ideation to tapeout.
Comments
Good introductory overview post.
However, most of it was already known and i was looking for something more specific/detailed given the OP article.
In the past i had worked on a custom SoC (on the software side) and had often interacted with the hardware designers to understand more of their domain. The first surprise was that most Verilog/RTL guys didn't know anything about software (not even assembly/C!) while of course embedded software guys (like myself) didn't know anything about HDLs. There was (and is) a very hard disconnect which is quite interesting. In the spirit of the OP article, the book i linked to actually shows a path via Vivado HLS for software folks to move into hardware design using their C/C++ programming skills. But i would like to see some hardware designer here validate that approach in the real-world. Especially now that you have powerful AI tools available to help you do stuff faster and easier.
With the rise of demanding AI/ML/Crypto applications, there is now a greater interest in designing new types of custom hardware requiring Hardware/Software Modeling(verification/benchmarking)/Co-Design/Co-Verification etc. They involve designing complete SoCs containing CPU/GPU/FPGAs based on specific designs. Given that hardware design is a universe of its own, not knowing the overall picture i.e. architecture/tools/methodologies/etc. makes it quite daunting for software folks to approach it.
PS: Maybe you can augment/create-new blog post with an actual case study based on your experiences on steps involved going from ideation to tapeout.