BlinkNBuild Hardware Academy

Silicon engineering, taught properly.

Free, deeply technical hardware courses built by practising engineers - not freelance bloggers. Every module ships real synthesizable RTL, hand-drawn timing waveforms, and curated problem vaults modeling the core technical challenges set across leading semiconductor engineering teams.

9
Complete courses
105
Volumes
526
Sub-modules
721
Glossary terms

Course catalog

Complete · 11 volumes

Verilog & SystemVerilog Silicon Masterclass

From hardware concurrency and the stratified event queue through FSM engineering, clock domain crossing, asynchronous FIFOs, static timing analysis, and constrained-random verification. The complete path from first always block to tape-out intuition.

11 volumes · 52 modules ~40 hours Beginner → Advanced
Complete · 7 volumes

FPGA Mastery: Vivado, Zynq & Hardware Bring-Up

Taking RTL off the simulator and onto real silicon - the LUT and DSP fabric you are really targeting, the Vivado flow, XDC timing constraints, block RAM inference, the AXI4 family, Zynq PS-PL integration, and hardware debug with the Integrated Logic Analyzer.

7 volumes · 35 modules ~28 hours Intermediate → Advanced
Complete · 6 volumes

ASIC & Physical Design Flow (OpenLane / Sky130)

The open-source RTL-to-GDSII flow: what a PDK contains, Yosys synthesis, floorplanning and power distribution, placement and clock tree synthesis, routing and RC extraction, and STA, DRC and LVS sign-off - all on OpenLane and the Sky130 PDK, no licence needed.

6 volumes · 30 modules ~24 hours Advanced
Complete · 15 volumes

State Machines from Zero: Design, Code, Test and Make Them Safe

The complete guide to finite state machines, in simple English and from zero. Draw them, design them from gates, write them in Verilog, and test them. Then build real ones: sequence detectors, debouncers, traffic lights, a UART and an SPI master. Finish by making them safe, fast and interview-ready.

15 volumes · 77 modules ~30 hours Complete beginner → Intermediate
Complete · 19 volumes

Embedded C from Zero: Bits, Pointers, Registers and Drivers

C as firmware engineers use it, from the first line. Variables, bits and bytes, then the hard parts made simple: pointers, structs, the memory map, volatile registers, interrupts and timers. Build UART, SPI and I2C drivers, keep the code reliable, and finish with an interview vault.

19 volumes · 103 modules ~40 hours Complete beginner → Intermediate
Complete · 16 volumes

Static Timing Analysis from Zero: Setup, Hold and Every Clocking Case

The timing half of chip design, from zero. Learn where delay comes from, what a timing path is, and how setup and hold are checked - each worked by hand, number by number. Then every clocking case: half cycles, divided clocks, multicycle and false paths, latches, I/O timing, corners, crosstalk, SDC and closing a real design.

16 volumes · 82 modules ~45 hours Complete beginner → Advanced
Complete · 11 volumes

Embedded C++: Classes, RAII and Templates for Microcontrollers

The C++ that fits on a microcontroller. Start from C and add classes, references and namespaces, then RAII, inheritance and the measured cost of virtual functions, templates and constexpr, memory without the heap, a real driver layer and unit tests on your PC.

11 volumes · 49 modules ~24 hours Knows some C → Intermediate
Complete · 11 volumes

Digital Logic from Zero: Binary, Gates, Boolean Algebra, Flip-Flops and Counters

How computers think, from zero. Count in binary, build circuits from logic gates, and simplify them with Boolean algebra and K-maps. Then add memory with latches and flip-flops, and build adders, decoders, counters and shift registers. Ends with GATE-style practice.

11 volumes · 54 modules ~28 hours Complete beginner → Intermediate
Complete · 9 volumes

Electronics from Zero: Voltage, Current and the Transistor as a Switch

The physics under every logic gate, from zero. Voltage, current and resistance, Ohm's law, series and parallel, capacitors and RC timing, diodes and LEDs, transistors as switches, the CMOS gate, power supplies, and how to read a datasheet.

9 volumes · 44 modules ~22 hours Complete beginner
Guide

Not Sure Where to Start? Learning Paths

Pick the job you want - RTL design, FPGA, verification, physical design, embedded or GATE - and follow the courses in order.

6 paths All levels
Preparing for GATE ECE? The GATE ECE portal is a separate, question-first resource: solved problems across all eight subjects, each worked end to end with no skipped steps and the common trap named. Attempt first, then reveal the derivation.

Why this academy exists

Most online tutorials teach simulation syntax without ever explaining what the synthesis tool actually builds in silicon. BlinkNBuild Academy bridges that gap: synthesizable RTL, hand-drawn timing diagrams, realistic tool reports, and the exact conceptual depth tested in technical VLSI interviews.

How every lesson is checked In the beginner courses, no number, waveform or code example is typed from memory. C programs are compiled and run, timing numbers come from a timing model, and state machines are checked against a cycle-accurate model - and the lesson quotes what those checks printed.

Who this is for