FPGA Engineer

The FPGA engineer is an electrical engineer specializing in the design of Field Programmable Gate Array integrated circuits. You will read more about it in this job description.

Are you looking for a company specializing in FPGA to help you with your project?
Read more about FPGA/IP design services, and then do not hesitate to contact us, so that we can discuss about it together.
ELSYS is an ARM Approved Design Partner, a Microchip Authorized Design Partner and is member of the Xilinx Alliance Program.

We have design centers in Europe (France), Eastern Europe (Serbia) and a branch in the USA (California, in the Silicon Valley).

Summary:

• What is a FPGA Engineer?
• What does a FPGA Engineer do?
• How to become an FPGA Engineer?
• What are the skills required for FPGA Engineers?
• What is the salary of a FPGA Engineer?
• Are FPGA engineers in demand? Jobs

What is a FPGA engineer?

FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) hold a special place in the large family of integrated circuits. They are part of the category of digital integrated circuits, their greatest asset is their programmable logic and even reprogrammable logic. This allows the design of your own components for specific needs or, as part of the design of an ASIC (Application-Specific Integrated Circuit), you can prototype the component by iterating everything on FPGA.
A FGPA engineer is therefore an electrical engineer specializing in FPGA design.

Roles & Responsibilities

What does a FPGA engineer do? On a daily basis, he programs with VHDL – VHSIC (Very High Speed Integrated Circuit) Hardware Description Language. At least, in Europe, as in the United States, the description language the most frequently used is the Verilog.

Once its module is finished, the FPGA designer will simulate the code in a virtual environment, for example ModelSim.

Then, the validation part is carried out on a test bench using scenarios. Running them via scripts makes it possible to check the developed functionality, but also the good integration of this new IP with the other modules.

Finally, the designer will document his work, both for the coding part (we are talking about design documentation) and for the validation part.

How to become FPGA engineer

To become an FPGA engineer, it is essential to have completed an electronic training course at a university master’s degree or an engineering school, ideally with a specialization in digital electronics.

For example, Clarisse, FPGA designer at ELSYS Design, graduated from ENSEIRB MATMECA in Bordeaux, France. She followed modules in digital electronics and in VHDL programming during the first two years of her engineering school.

Other engineering schools such as ESIEE or ECE also deliver similar courses.

FPGA Engineer skills

First and foremost, an FPGA designer masters the constraints of real time.

Then, each FPGA manufacturer offers a suite of tools dedicated to its components, from the VHDL design to the implementation in the FPGA. We can mention Vivado at Xilinx, Quartus at Intel (ex Altera) or Libero at Microsemi (ex Actel). The FPGA Designer must have technical skills in many of these tools.

Finally, the knowledge of scripting languages is very useful, for example the LUA, which is open source.

Furthermore, a list of additional skills, common to many engineers, are also necessary:

• Be rigorous
• Have a synthetic vision, in order not to lose sight of the objective assigned to one’s module
• Follow a precise methodology

FPGA engineer salary

It sounds obvious that the position as well as the levels of experience and mastery of FPGA design tools are paramount to set the salary of an FPGA engineer.

For a young graduate in France, it is generally between 33K and 36K €.

Be an FPGA Designer at ELSYS Design

Clarisse, FPGA designer for almost a year, says « When I arrived, before I even started working on my first project, I received a VIVADO training.

What I appreciate most about ELSYS Design is to be surrounded by experienced engineers, and especially passionate about their job. Thus, I’ve improved quickly my technical skills ».

FPGA Engineer Jobs

ELSYS Design hires FPGA engineers in France, in the cities of Paris, Rennes, Nantes, Grenoble, Lyon, Nice Sophia Antipolis, Aix en Provence and Toulouse. Find out employment opportunities on our jobs board, where it is also possible to submit an unsolicited application.