RTL DESIGN

RTL design serves as the primary abstraction for defining digital portions of a design. It is widely used today as the golden model in the design and verification process. Typically, RTL design is captured using hardware description languages (HDLs) such as Verilog or VHDL.

During the design process, designers collaborate with architects to define micro-architectures for various blocks of the design and then develop RTL code based on the specification. The code is then run through several front-end tools to check for linting and clock domain crossing. Design engineers also work closely with the physical design team to establish design constraints and ensure timing closure, as well as with the low-power team to optimize power consumption. Additionally, they coordinate with the verification team to collaborate on test plan, coverage plan, and coverage closure.