Master Silicon Design with Vplay
LearnVLSI is your gateway to hands-on semiconductor engineering. Powered by Vplay—a unique, one-of-a-kind browser environment that unites a 90-Day Gamified Verilog Practice Course with a complete RTL-to-GDSII Physical Design Foundry.
Free to start · No local install · Sign up in Vplay when prompted
Learn by doing: follow guided chip-design exercises and review your results in the browser, without setting up a local lab.
The Access Bottleneck
The Lab Is Locked Behind Gigabytes
For many learners, the hardest part is not understanding physical design. It is getting the lab to run: the tools are huge, the dependencies are fragile, and the hardware workflow is difficult to access without guidance.
The Installation Wall
Major barrier
Open-source EDA tools, PDKs, libraries, and build artifacts can consume gigabytes before the first layout is generated. A learner may spend days downloading files instead of learning physical design.
Dependency Maze
Frequent issue
Version mismatches, missing packages, environment variables, compiler errors, and incompatible system libraries can break the flow before synthesis. One unresolved dependency can lock the entire lab.
No Physical Design Lab
Common constraint
Most learners do not have a dedicated Linux machine, enough storage, licensed tools, or an institutional lab. Without access to real flows, physical design stays theoretical instead of becoming a repeatable skill.
Learning Without a Guide
Needs guidance
Even after the tools are available, learners need a guided path through synthesis, floorplanning, placement, CTS, routing, and sign-off. Without feedback, setup errors become weeks of confusion and abandoned projects.
Illustrative pressure indicators, not survey statistics. The exact setup depends on the toolchain and machine.
The Product — Vplay
One Unified Platform. From First Verilog Line to Final GDSII.
No Linux setup, no multi-gigabyte PDK downloads, and no expensive licenses. Vplay runs entirely in your browser with two powerful modes.
1. 90-Day Verilog Practice Arena
A gamified, hands-on HDL coding arena built to take you from basic logic gates to synthesizable processor design with instant automated testbench grading.
- Write Verilog directly in an interactive browser editor
- Instant verification against pre-built hardware testbenches
- Structured 90-day daily streak & progression system
- One-click push from verified RTL into physical silicon synthesis
2. Complete RTL-to-GDSII Foundry
Turn your verified Verilog code into a manufacturable chip layout using the open-source OpenLane & SkyWater 130nm toolchain in the cloud.
- Real Yosys logic synthesis & OpenROAD floorplanning
- Interactive Power Delivery Network (PDN) & placement tuning
- Clock Tree Synthesis (CTS) & TritonRoute metal routing
- Built-in AI assistant to debug DRC & PDN pitch errors
- Follow a guided path from beginner concepts to complete chip-design projects
- Experiment with design choices and see how they affect the result
- Inspect your chip layout visually in an interactive browser workspace
- Start with free learning access; account and usage details are shown in Vplay
90-Day Practice Curriculum
Learn Verilog by Solving Real Hardware Challenges
Stop passively watching tutorials. Practice daily for 90 days with curated problems and automated testbench verification.
Digital Logic & Combinational
Build a rock-solid foundation in gate-level modeling, dataflow assignments, and modular arithmetic blocks.
Sequential Circuits & FSMs
Master clocked logic, state machines, counters, and hardware communication interfaces.
Memory, Datapaths & RISC-V
Design complex, synthesizable microarchitectures ready to be pushed through Vplay's RTL-to-GDSII flow.
Physical Design Flow
The 7-Track RTL-to-GDSII Pipeline
Step through every stage of physical chip design and inspect your layout visually in the browser.
About the Project
Built for the VLSI Community
LearnVLSI is maintained by a dedicated two-person team combining technical cloud EDA engineering with operational strategy and platform security.
Nirmalya built Vplay to remove the steep infrastructure barriers of EDA tools. He architects the cloud servers, RTL-to-GDSII pipelines, and the Verilog auto-grading engines.
Quick Answers
Before You Launch
Everything you need to know before opening the browser-based lab.
Is Vplay free?
Vplay is free to start. Any account or usage requirements are shown transparently inside Vplay before you begin.
Does it work on mobile?
The learning content is responsive, but the terminal and layout viewer are best experienced on a laptop or desktop with a modern browser.
Which browsers are supported?
Use a current version of Chrome, Edge, Firefox, or Safari. JavaScript and a stable internet connection are required.
Is my code saved or private?
Your code is handled inside the Vplay workspace. Review the workspace's sign-in and storage notices before submitting anything sensitive.
How is Verilog auto-graded?
Your design is compiled and checked against automated testbench vectors. The terminal reports the pass or fail result and verification details.
Do I get a certificate?
The 90-day practice path is designed around hands-on progress. Certificate availability, if offered, is announced inside Vplay.
Can I learn without installing specialist software?
Yes. Vplay is designed to let you learn in the browser, so you can focus on the design exercises instead of local setup.
Can I experiment with my own designs?
Yes, where supported in Vplay. You can use the workspace to explore designs and review the generated results.
Ready to write Verilog and build real silicon?
Start your 90-Day Verilog Practice or launch the 7-Track RTL-to-GDSII Foundry inside your browser.
Launch Vplay Now →