The open culture and support of colleagues. There are very few boundaries to our exploration work, and I have the complete support of all my colleagues. Work/life balance is another aspect that I highly appreciate.
Digital Design Engineers
#WeAreIn to transform theoretical concepts into real hardware designs. Are you in?
Join us as Digital Design Engineer.
Being a digital designer is not just register transfer level (RTL) coding. Be prepared to learn a lot – no matter how much you think you already know.
Avni's Story
If you love to create …
Since 2015, Avni has been a Digital Design Engineer with Infineon in Munich. Bringing strong creative and problem-solving skills to the table, she enjoys the challenge of creating a complex design and managing the many different tasks around it. A sound understanding of complex interactions and algorithms is key for her job.
My main task is to solve a lot of problems, which is a goldmine for an engineer. But mainly I design digital IPs. To design a digital intellectual property (IP) according to the given specifications in relation to area, timing, leakage, and dynamic power targets, I need to run quality checks on the RTL code, run synthesis, and analyze the results.
The digital designs that I worked on are in AURIX™ 2G and AURIX™ 3G automotive microcontrollers from Infineon.
The good thing about the job is the diversity of tasks – no two days are alike. That’s because there are many distinct phases in a project, each of which involves different tasks. Sometimes I’m faced with short deadlines, which adds to the excitement of the job. One thing that definitely helps is the ability to understand complex interactions and algorithms.
Being a digital designer is not just RTL coding. Be prepared to learn a lot – no matter how much you think you already know. For example, one line of code in verilog hardware description language (VHDL) entails a lot more than writing a line of software, because hardware updates are not possible anymore once the chip is out.
In addition, what you code can change things a lot when your design is integrated at top level. There are a myriad of problems that can come up when your design is integrated. You need to be calm and composed to be able to quickly come up with smart solutions that can help with design changes.
It was the day my code was reviewed. It felt like I learned the knowledge of years in one day. It was a hard day, but it was the best one too, because the feedback I received would shape me for years to come. As a newbie, the best thing you can get is feedback. It’s helpful when it is without judgement, and this is what I meant by support from colleagues.
There is something very satisfying about turning an idea into a working hardware implementation. Digital design is a big part of the development process for a chip, so the role is very varied. Almost every day, I use a different tool for a different task.
Andrew's Story
Challenging conventional wisdom
Andrew joined Infineon at Villach, Austria, in 2017 as a Digital Design Engineer. Specializing in the digital design of mixed-signal IP cores – which are supplied to all the business lines – he likes to challenge conventional wisdom and believes that creative solutions are the key to problem-solving.
Infineon has a very diverse product portfolio. This has given me the opportunity to work on a really broad range of projects.
Digital design is a very varied role. Most of my time is spent on RTL design, quality control, and documentation. In my specific role, simulations/verification and synthesis are also big tasks.
I design IP (intellectual property) cores for several Infineon product lines. Most recently, I worked on long-range radar MMICs for automotive applications, and short-range radar MMICs for consumer applications. During my time at Infineon, I have worked on several other interesting projects including chips for 5G infrastructure.
It’s great to have the opportunity to work on cutting-edge chips for interesting applications. I am given the freedom to find creative solutions.
Cutting-edge chips mean cutting-edge tools, so we need to be adaptable. In competitive markets, timelines are challenging.
If a chip is delivered late, that might mean a lost customer! So it’s important to be good enough, on time, and avoid overengineering.
