Principal Interconnect Design Engineer

SiFive; Austin (TX); On-site; USD 231,444 - 282,876; Full time

Job summary

SiFive is seeking a principal-level hardware engineer to design industry-leading CPU and interconnect IP, driving the adoption of RISC‑V as the architecture of choice for SOC designs across a broad range of vertical applications. The role emphasizes massively configurable IP and generating hardware as configurable software generators using Chisel.

The candidate will architect and implement enhanced TileLink interconnects, cache controllers, protocol bridges, and other infrastructure logic in RTL

Qualifications

• Experience with cache coherency architectures and NoC/interconnect fabrics.
• Familiarity with AXI/CHI/CXL/UCIe bus protocols.
• Strong RTL design skills in Verilog/SystemVerilog/VHDL.
• BS/MS in EE/CE/CS or related field.

Responsibilities

• Architect, design, and implement an enhanced TileLink interconnect, cache controllers, protocol bridges, and other infrastructure/uncore logic as RTL generators in Chisel.
• Implement RTL generators so elements self‑configure to optimally connect to each other.
• Enhance future designs to provide higher performance, more efficient multicore and multisystem coherence.
• Design extensive configurability as a first‑class consideration.
• Integrate new design content into SiFive’s Chisel/FIRRTL framework and contribute to improvements that enable automatic configuration, generation of documentation, verification testbenches, and packaged software.
• Perform initial sandbox verification and collaborate with the design verification team to create and execute thorough verification test plans.
• Ensure knowledge sharing through creation and maintenance of great documentation and participation in a culture of collaborative design.

Skills

Cache architectures

Cache coherency

NoC interconnect

Interconnect fabrics

Bus protocols

RTL design (Verilog/SV/VHDL)

Scala/Chisel experience

DSLs / compiler infra

Unit tests / TDD

Software engineering (OO/FP)

Team collaboration

Education

BS/MS in EE, CE, CS or related

Tools

Git/GitHub

Jira

Confluence

Job description

About SiFive

As the pioneers who introduced RISC‑V to the world, SiFive is transforming the future of compute by bringing the limitless potential of RISC‑V to the highest performance and most data‑intensive applications. SiFive’s compute platforms enable leading technology companies to innovate and deliver advanced solutions across artificial intelligence, machine learning, automotive, data center, mobile, and consumer chip design. With SiFive, the future of RISC‑V has no limits. SiFive is excited to connect with talented individuals who share our passion for driving innovation and changing the world. Our teams collaborate to create groundbreaking ideas that have a huge impact on people’s lives, making the world a better place, one processor at a time.

Job Description

The Role

SiFive is looking for a principal‑level hardware engineer to design industry‑leading CPU and interconnect IP, driving the adoption of RISC‑V as the architecture of choice for SOC designs across a broad range of vertical applications. The role focuses on massively customizable IP and improving time‑to‑market by designing hardware as highly‑configurable generators using the Chisel hardware construction language embedded in Scala.

The Challenge

• Design the best interconnect IP in the world using the revolutionary open RISC‑V and TileLink architectures.
• Master the art of designing hardware as configurable generators in a domain‑specific software language for elaborating circuits.
• Work in a fast‑paced, dynamic environment to bring new hardware IP to market quickly with high quality and exceptional performance.

Responsibilities

• Architect, design, and implement an enhanced TileLink interconnect, cache controllers, protocol bridges, and other infrastructure/uncore logic as RTL generators in Chisel.
• Implement RTL generators so elements self‑configure to optimally connect to each other.
• Enhance future designs to provide higher performance, more efficient multicore and multisystem coherence.
• Design extensive configurability as a first‑class consideration.
• Integrate new design content into SiFive’s Chisel/FIRRTL framework and contribute to improvements that enable automatic configuration, generation of documentation, verification testbenches, and packaged software.
• Perform initial sandbox verification and collaborate with the design verification team to create and execute thorough verification test plans.
• Ensure knowledge sharing through creation and maintenance of great documentation and participation in a culture of collaborative design.

What You Bring To The Challenge

• Knowledge of cache and cache coherency architectures and concepts.
• Experience with NoC or other interconnect fabrics.
• Familiarity with industry‑standard bus protocols (AXI, AHB, APB, CHI, CXL, UCIe).
• Ability to architect solutions to connect bus fabrics of disparate protocols.
• Strong software engineering skills, including:
  • Object‑oriented, aspect‑oriented, and particularly functional programming.
  • Templated metaprogramming in any language.
  • Compiler infrastructures, particularly for domain‑specific languages.
  • Data modeling, especially intermediate representations for optimizing or transforming compiler passes.
  • Test‑driven development and ability to write adaptive unit tests.
• Proficiency in hardware (RTL) design in Verilog, SystemVerilog, or VHDL.
• Attention to detail and focus on high‑quality design.
• Team‑player mindset and belief that engineering is a collective effort.
• BS/MS in EE, CE, CS or a related technical discipline, or equivalent experience.

Nice to Have

• Experience with Scala/Chisel, Bluespec, or another language/DSL for expressing configurable hardware via software.
• Knowledge of RISC‑V architecture.
• Experience with Git/GitHub, Jira, Confluence.

Pay & Benefits

Base Pay Range: $231,444.00–$282,876.00.

In addition to base pay, this role may be eligible for variable/incentive compensation and/or equity. The position also offers a comprehensive, competitive benefits package that may include healthcare and retirement plans, paid time off, and more.

Additional Information

This position requires successful background and reference checks and satisfactory proof of right to work in the United States of America. Any offer of employment is contingent on verifying that you are authorized to access export‑controlled technology under applicable export control laws or that any necessary export license(s) or other approvals have been obtained.

SiFive is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.

As an E‑Verify employer, we use this system to confirm the employment eligibility of all new hires in accordance with federal law. All applicants will be required to complete a Form I‑9, Employment Eligibility Verification, upon hire. We do not use E‑Verify to pre‑screen job candidates and will comply with all E‑Verify regulations.

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