Quick starter guide for those who are interested in open source ASIC development. Tiny Tapeout is an open source ASIC (chip) tool chain for students and hobbyists. Commercial EDA tools and licenses are costly so it’s great that chip design is becoming more affordable and accessible.

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Whether it’s GPUs, ASICs, FPGAs, embedded systems, or any other kind of low-level hardware, I figured that understanding how processors work at a fundamental level is crucial for debugging (and for many other things). Tackling performance bottlenecks in software also benefits from this knowledge. It translates into more effective and informed decision making in design. It’s also pretty interesting to see how different modules work together at a low level abstraction and gives you a deeper appreciation for the complexity of high-performance processors. This project is meant to be simple (kind of... haha) and for students/hobbyists. I coded it using Verilog, implementing a simple processor (top) with an ALU (Arithmetic Logic Unit), control unit, and register file. This processor also follows the basic principles of RISC.