LLM-Based Learning Platform For Chip Design Education (RPTU)

RPTU University of Kaiserslautern-Landau researchers published “From RTL to Prompt Coding: Empowering the Next Generation of Chip Designers through LLMs.”

Abstract

“This paper presents an LLM-based learning platform for chip design education, aiming to make chip design accessible to beginners without overwhelming them with technical complexity. It represents the first educational platform that assists learners holistically across both frontend and backend design. The proposed approach integrates an LLM-based chat agent into a browser-based workflow built upon the Tiny Tapeout ecosystem. The workflow guides users from an initial design idea through RTL code generation to a tapeout-ready chip. To evaluate the concept, a case study was conducted with 18 high-school students. Within a 90-minute session they developed eight functional VGA chip designs in a 130 nm technology. Despite having no prior experience in chip design, all groups successfully implemented tapeout-ready projects. The results demonstrate the feasibility and educational impact of LLM-assisted chip design, highlighting its potential to attract and inspire early learners and significantly broaden the target audience for the field.”

Find the technical paper here. January 2026.

Krupp, Lukas, Matthew Venn, and Norbert Wehn. “From RTL to Prompt Coding: Empowering the Next Generation of Chip Designers through LLMs.” arXiv preprint arXiv:2601.13815 (2026).