Engineering students successfully adapt and optimize a Vortex processor for ASIC design in collaboration with Silicon Arts.

As part of a collaboration between the Faculty of Engineering at Assiut University and Silicon Arts, and under the auspices of Professor Khaled Salah Saeed, Dean of the Faculty, and Professor Mohamed Safwat, Vice Dean for Education and Student Affairs, a team of students implemented a specialized project in the field of custom integrated circuit (ASIC) design. The project focused on adapting and optimizing the open-source Vortex processor, built on the RISC-V-based GPGPU architecture, to be compatible with the ASIC design flow. The project included modifying the source code to meet the requirements of custom ASIC design and completing the design flow stages, including preparation for physical implementation. The original project was intended for simulation and implementation on an FPGA. This project provides students with practical experience in converting open-source designs into manufacturable designs. The project was supervised by Professor Dr. Khalil Ismail Khalil Youssef and Professor Dr. Mohamed Abbas Abdel-Radi, Head of the Electrical Engineering Department at the college. Participating students included Mustafa Asran, Shahd Hossam, Manar Hamada, Basma Atef, Ibrahim Karam, Hassan Abdel-Rahman, and Fadi Raafat.