Physical Design
Physical design is the stage in electronic design automation (EDA) that transforms a logical circuit description into a physical layout for manufacturing, focusing on placement, routing, timing, and power optimization. It involves converting a gate-level netlist into a geometric representation that can be fabricated as an integrated circuit (IC) or printed circuit board (PCB). This process ensures the design meets performance, area, and power constraints while adhering to manufacturing rules.
Developers should learn physical design when working on hardware development, ASIC/FPGA design, or system-level integration to ensure their designs are manufacturable and meet performance targets. It is critical for roles in semiconductor companies, electronics engineering, and embedded systems where optimizing chip area, power consumption, and signal integrity is essential. Use cases include designing CPUs, GPUs, memory chips, and IoT devices that require efficient physical implementation.