Principal Software Engineer, Debug Tools

Ampere; Santa Clara (CA); On-site; USD 182,000 - 273,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Premium health coverage

401K retirement plan

Unlimited flextime

10+ paid holidays

Job summary

Ampere is a semiconductor design company focused on high-performance, energy-efficient AI compute. We are hiring for a core member of the Debug Tools team to architect, design, and deploy software-based debug solutions across Ampere’s SoCs.

Responsibilities include developing new debug tools, influencing design decisions, and delivering robust debugging infrastructure for internal and external users. A strong background in Arm tooling and system software debugging is required.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical/Computer Engineering, Computer Engineering, or Computer Science with 8 years of related experience; or a Master’s with 5 years, or a PhD with 3 years.
• Proficiency with Arm architecture and ecosystem, including Armv8-a/v9-a and Armv7-m, CoreSight and AMBA protocols.
• Proficiency in C/C++, Python, and Bash.
• Experience using Arm Development Studio, TRACE32 PowerView, and GDB.
• Experience with instruction trace, bus trace, scan dumps, array dumps, and crash capture.
• Experience with Git and software best practices.
• Strong analytical, debugging, and testing methodology skills.
• Proven ability to own problems and drive them to a resolution.
• Experience with system software debugging tools like perf, ftrace recommended.

Responsibilities

• Architect, design, develop, and deploy software-based Debug Tools for custom 64-bit Armv9 SoC and other processors.
• Invent new debug tools and techniques for future products and technologies.
• Influence the architecture and design team decisions with knowledge of internal and external debug tools on Ampere SoCs.
• Contribute to software architecture documents, application notes, and other software product documentation.
• Develop tooling for advanced debugging techniques, such as instruction trace, bus trace, array dump, scan dump, and ATE bootstrapping.
• Develop open source JTAG and self-hosted trace and debugger software for internal and external use in debugging Ampere microprocessors.
• Develop Arm Development Studio and TRACE32 utilities for internal and external use in debugging Ampere microprocessors.
• Perform pre-silicon bring-up of debug software on software simulators and hardware emulation platforms.
• Collaborate with hardware design, architecture, post-silicon validation, and platform AE teams, as necessary, to resolve critical customer issues.

Skills

Arm architecture

C/C++

Python

Bash

Arm Development Studio

TRACE32 PowerView

GDB

Trace & dumps

Git

Debugging

Education

Bachelor's degree in Electrical/Computer Engineering or CS

Master’s with 5+ years experience

Job description

Invent the future with us.Ampere is a semiconductor design company for a new era, leading the future of computing with an innovative approach to CPU design focused on high-performance, energy efficient AI compute.

Description

Invent the future with us. Ampere is a semiconductor design company for a new era, leading the future of computing with an innovative approach to CPU design focused on high-performance, energy efficient AI compute. As a pioneer in the new frontier of energy efficient high-performance computing, Ampere is part of the Softbank Group of companies driving sustainable computing for AI, Cloud, and edge applications. Join us at Ampere and work alongside a passionate and growing team

About The Role

As a core member of the Ampere Debug Tools team, you will be responsible for the architecture, design, and development of Debug Tools solutions for the next generation of Ampere products. This role is distinguished by deep technical ownership, architecture leadership, and cross-team influence. The Debug Tools Team is part of the Ampere Software Team. Our mission is to develop a comprehensive debug strategy and roadmap for internal debug capabilities, as well as to develop and deploy debug solutions for all internal and external Ampere SoC users.

• Internal users include Debug Tools software users from the Virtual Platform, Emulation, Platform, Design Validation (DV), Post-Silicon Validation, Design For Test (DFT), Firmware, Operating System, Software, Performance, and Application Engineering teams.
• External users include partners, ODMs, OEMs, datacenter, edge and embedded customers.
• Debug solutions include Arm Development Studio and TRACE32 PowerView debuggers, Arm Performance Studio, Arm Self-Hosted Trace and Debug for Linux, and utilities for invasive debug, bus trace, instruction trace, array dump, and scan dump.

What You’ll Achieve

• Architect, design, develop, and deploy software-based Debug Tools for custom 64-bit Armv9 SoC and other processors.
• Invent new debug tools and techniques for future products and technologies.
• Influence the architecture and design team decisions with knowledge of internal and external debug tools on Ampere SoCs.
• Contribute to software architecture and design documents, application notes, and other software product documentation.
• Develop tooling for advanced debugging techniques, such as instruction trace, bus trace, array dump, scan dump, and ATE bootstrapping.
• Develop open source JTAG and self-hosted trace and debugger software for internal and external use in debugging Ampere microprocessors.
• Develop Arm Development Studio and TRACE32 utilities for internal and external use in debugging Ampere microprocessors.
• Perform pre-silicon bring-up of debug software on software simulators and hardware emulation platforms.
• Collaborate with hardware design, architecture, post-silicon validation, and platform AE teams, as necessary, to resolve critical customer issues.

About You

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, or Computer Science with 8 years of related experience; or a Master’s degree with 5 years of experience, or a PhD with 3 years of experience.
• Proficiency with Arm® architecture and ecosystem, including Armv8-a/v9-a and Armv7-m processor architectures, Arm Debug Interface Architecture, Arm CoreSight™ Architecture, Arm AMBA® APB, AXI, AHB, and CHI protocols.
• Proficiency in C/C++, Python, and Bash programming.
• Experience using Arm Development Studio, TRACE32 PowerView, and GDB debuggers.
• Experience with instruction trace, bus trace, scan dumps, array dumps, and crash capture.
• Experience with version control tools such as git, and software best practices.
• Strong analytical, debugging, and testing methodology skills.
• Proven ability to own problems and drive them to a resolution.
• Experience with system software debugging, tracing, and analysis tools, such as perf, ftrace, etc, is recommended.

What We’ll Offer

At Ampere we believe in taking care of our employees and providing a competitive total rewards package that includes base pay, cash long-term incentive, and comprehensive benefits. The full base pay range for this role is between $182,000 and $273,000, except in the San Francisco Bay Area where the range is between $195,000 and $292,000.

Our benefits include health, wellness, and financial programs that support employees through every stage of life.

Benefit Highlights Include

• Premium medical insurance, dental insurance, vision insurance, as well as income protection and a 401K retirement plan, so that you can feel secure in your health and financial future.
• Unlimited Flextime and 10+ paid holidays so that you can embrace a healthy work-life balance.
• A variety of healthy snacks, energizing espresso, and refreshing drinks to keep you fueled and focused throughout the day.

And there is much more than compensation and benefits. At Ampere, we foster an inclusive culture that empowers our employees to do more and grow more. We are excited to share more about our career opportunities with you through the interview process. Our benefits include health, wellness, and financial programs that support employees through every stage of life.

Ampere is an inclusive and equal opportunity employer and welcomes applicants from all backgrounds. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, national origin, citizenship, religion, age, veteran and/or military status, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, physical or mental disability, or any other basis protected by federal, state or local law.