Get started with VLSI at Engineering college – for free!

 
Here is a recent posting that TeamCVC did on Facebook group (http://www.facebook.com/groups/199014503449605/) , thought it is worth sharing it widely. Bottomline – if you are interested in VLSI, there is nothing that stops you from doing it for free even at college level!
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When you say "tools" - a full ASIC platform for free is not realistic, unless it is academic - in which case look at Alliance: http://sourceforge.net/projects/alliancecad/
Though some of the tools in Alliance are industry ready, usually students in India have better tools at their disposal (just that they don't know about it). For instance:
Modelsim Student edition http://model.com/content/modelsim-pe-student-edition-hdl-simulation
Riviera-Pro student edition: http://www.aldec.com/en/products/university_programs
These tools will run on Windows and or Linux. One can install Cygwin (www.cygwin.com) and get Linux-like experience on Windows itself (to be ready for industry).
After you solve the tools puzzle, then comes "what to do with tools" - there are tons of projects you can contribute such as OVL http://www.eda.org/ovl/pages/main_examples.html
So once you decide to work on VLSI, there are ample opportunities to pick up. If you need further assistance feel free to visit us www.cvcblr.com
Good Luck

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