Category Archives: Blogs

Startups often get this decision wrong the first time

How to approach physical design resourcing without blowing your burn rate Early on every semiconductor company faces the same dilemma: Should we build an internal physical design team, partner with specialists or both? Tarun has seen the models up close. … Continue reading

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A DDR4 subsystem… nine bytelanes… and zero margin for timing error

That was the challenge for a recent space application ASIC. When a client building hardware for orbit approached NextGen, the brief was clear: Deliver a full DDR4 subsystem implementation with perfect clock alignment, first time right. Space doesn’t forgive mistakes. … Continue reading

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Finding senior physical design engineers in 2025 is harder than closing timing at 5nm

And that’s exactly why NextGen exists For 15 years, Tarun worked as a physical design contractor for UK, European and American semiconductor companies. Different companies. Different process nodes. Same message from clients: “Are you free? We just need someone we … Continue reading

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Insights in physical design

Introducing a new series of posts for the UK & EU semiconductor community: Inside Physical Design — Real Stories. Real Challenges. Real Tapeouts Over the next few weeks, we’re sharing short, honest insights from 25+ years of RTL-to-GDSII experience — … Continue reading

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Why physical design expertise is so important

The semiconductor industry talks endlessly about AI accelerators, chiplets and advanced nodes. But there’s a quieter challenge that determines whether ambitious chip designs actually make it to silicon: finding competent physical design engineers you can trust. After 15 years as … Continue reading

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