Chipress

Traditional commercial EDA tools usually cost tens of thousands annually, and it introduces high bars for people who want to enter the hardware industry.

Unlike the software industry, there are not a whole lot of open-source hardware tools for people to try out freely. Luckily, hardware engineers still have a few free or open-source choices towards RTL simulation and waveform editing.

EDA Playground

EDA Playground is a free online RTL simulator, providing engineers immediate hands-on exposure to simulating and synthesizing hardware languages like SystemVerilog, Verilog, and VHDL. It is great for technical interview preparation.

Metrics – DSim for All

Metrics Design Automation, a Canada based company, offers simulation as a service for the verification of FPGA and ASIC designs. Their SaaS business model enables users to increase verification productivity while saving development costs.

They also offer a free desktop version of their product, with which engineers can simulate RTL using their own machine.

Wavedorm

Wavedorm is an open-source online digital timing diagram editor, which renders beautiful waveforms from plain descriptive texts. It is easy to learn, easy to use, and it is browser-based. It is not only suitable for preparing technical interviews, but also useful in design engineers’ day-to-day job.

Reference

1. https://www.edaplayground.com/
2. https://www.metrics.ca/
3. https://wavedrom.com/