Tape-out Ready // 2026

Architecting Silicon.

Bridging the gap between high-level architectural specs and physical silicon realization.

Hardware Tech
Alex Chen
About Me

Logic Meets Physicality.

I am a VLSI Design Engineer with a passion for high-performance computing and energy-efficient architecture. With a background in both Frontend RTL and Backend Physical Design, I specialize in navigating the "valley of death" between synthesis and timing closure.

Currently focusing on 3nm nodes and the integration of AI-driven placement tools to accelerate the PPA (Power, Performance, Area) loop.

02 // History

Professional Cycles

2023 - Present

Silicon Frontier

Senior RTL Design Lead

Directing the development of next-gen RISC-V accelerators. Successfully reduced power consumption by 18% through aggressive fine-grained clock gating and operand isolation techniques.

RISC-VLow PowerSystemVerilog
2021 - 2023

NVIDIA (Hypothetical)

ASIC Design Engineer

Worked on the Tensor Core integration for Hopper architecture. Optimized data-path latency by 10% through custom cell placement and advanced routing constraints.

SynthesisStatic TimingHPC
Summer 2020

Qualcomm

Verification Intern

Developed UVM agents for LPDDR5 controllers. Achieved 100% functional coverage across all corner cases for the PHY interface.

UVMLPDDR5Python
03 // Tooling

Engineering Stack

RTL & Logic

  • SystemVerilog / Verilog
  • High-Level Synthesis (HLS)
  • FSM Design & Optimization
  • CDC / RDC Analysis

Verification

  • UVM / OVM Methodology
  • SVA (Assertions)
  • Formal Verification (JasperGold)
  • Power-Aware Simulation

Physical Design

  • Synopsys Fusion Compiler
  • Cadence Innovus
  • PrimeTime (STA)
  • Calibre DRC/LVS

Scripting & Automation

  • TCL (Tool Control Language)
  • Python for EDA
  • Perl Regression Scripts
  • Makefiles / Shell
04 // Tapeouts

Silicon Portfolio

32-bit RISC-V SoC

Project Titan-5

A multi-core SoC taped out on TSMC 7nm, featuring integrated AI accelerators.

HBM3 Controller

Mem-Link v3

Ultra-low latency memory controller designed for 3.2Gbps throughput per pin.

Cryo-Compute Node

Sub-Zero Logic

Research project exploring superconducting logic gates for quantum-interfacing.

05 // Methodology

Design Flow

01
Spec & Architecture

Defining micro-architecture and power domains.

02
RTL & Verification

Coding and UVM testing for logical correctness.

03
DFT Insertion

Scan chains and BIST for silicon manufacturability.

04
Synthesis & STA

Converting to netlist and closing timing constraints.

05
Physical Layout

Place, route, and sign-off verification (DRC/LVS).