SoC Physical Design Methodology Engineer

Apple Inc.; Austin, Northern (TX, KY); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Apple Inc. in Austin, TX is seeking a SoC Physical Design Methodology Engineer to drive robust, power-efficient design methodologies for next‑generation chips.

You will partner with CAD and design teams to optimize PPA, run signoff flows, and verify concepts in silicon, applying data science and scripting to improve production flows.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or related field with 10+ years of relevant industry experience.
• Strong communication and organizational skills.
• At least 5 years of physical design experience on SoC designs.

Responsibilities

• Develop and implement physical design methodologies to improve PPA (power, performance, area).
• Verify theories by silicon signoff flows and silicon measurements.
• Collaborate with standard cell teams to identify new cells for PPA, yield and productivity.
• Drive production design flows and CAD/tool updates with multiple teams on tight schedules.

Skills

Python scripting

Tcl scripting

Digital IC design

Interconnects knowledge

Electrical engineering fundamentals

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering or Computer Science

Tools

Spice simulations

Static timing analysis

Cad design flows

Job description

SoC Physical Design Methodology Engineer

Imagine what you could do here! At Apple, new ideas have a way of becoming extraordinary products, services, and customer experiences very quickly. Bring passion and dedication to your job and there's no telling what you could accomplish. Dynamic, hardworking people and inspiring, innovative technologies are the norm here. The people who work here have reinvented entire industries with all Apple Hardware products. The same passion for innovation that goes into our products also applies to our practices strengthening our commitment to leave the world better than we found it. Join us to help deliver the next groundbreaking Apple product!Come help us design the next generation of revolutionary Apple products. We're looking for a forward-thinking and unusually talented engineer. As a member of our dynamic group, you will have the rare and rewarding opportunity to craft and implement methodologies with a high impact on upcoming products that will delight and inspire millions of Apple’s customers every single day. In this role, you'll be directly involved in our physical design methodology efforts, collaborating right alongside our internal multi-functional teams to ensure our SoCs achieve the optimal power, performance, and area (PPA) in the most efficient way possible. We account for every nanowatt, every nanometer, and every picosecond from theory to silicon.

Description

As a Physical Design Methodology engineer you will be an active participant in the team responsible for ensuring our physical design methodology is efficient, robust, and reliable. You will create and implement methodologies that improve the robustness, power, performance, and area (PPA) of our on-chip interconnects. You will perform electrical analysis to understand how physical effects impact the performance of our designs. You will develop construction methodologies to help mitigate any PPA degradation found in silicon. You will help ensure our modeling of silicon is efficient and accurate by running our signoff flows and comparing results to measurements from silicon we create. You will collaborate with the standard cell team to identify new cells to improve PPA, yield, or engineering productivity. You will be working with CAD and design teams to drive these improvements and updates in our production design flows in an effective and timely manner. You will verify theories by creating a strategy to verify them in silicon. You will apply the latest advances in data science and machine learning when needed in crafting these methodologies.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or related field with 10+ years of relevant industry experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Have a strong intellectual curiosity, with excellent communication skills.
• Organized, a self-starter, and adaptable to any challenge that comes up.
• At least 5 years of physical design experience on SoC designs.
• Have experience in working with advanced technology nodes.
• Deeply knowledgeable about interconnects, parasitic extraction, performance analysis, and how manufacturing effects make these non-ideal. Have an extensive knowledge of power delivery and how power-supply noise impacts chip performance.
• Understand inductance effects and have circuit design experience. Are very comfortable running and modifying Spice simulations.
• Familiar with static timing analysis tools and methodologies. Being able to explain silicon behaviors should be an exciting challenge.
• Have a proven understanding of scripting languages such as Python and Tcl.
• Experience with flow development for a large number of users on a tight schedule is a plus.

Apple is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to inclusion and diversity. We seek to promote equal opportunity for all applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, Veteran status, or other legally protected characteristics. Learn more about your EEO rights as an applicant

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Apple accepts applications to this posting on an ongoing basis.