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Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md). --- # Principal Firmware/Middleware Engineer - **Company:** Renesas Electronics America Inc. - **Location:** Austin, TX, United States - **Contract:** Permanent contract - **Skills:** Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), Artificial Intelligence, Computing Platforms, Computer Engineering, Software Debugging, Logic Synthesis of Circuits, Middleware, Embedded Software, Firmware, FreeRTOS, Joint Test Action (IEEE Standards), Python (Programming Language), Routing, PCI Express, Real-Time Operating Systems, Network Switches, Dynamic Routing, Application Specific Integrated Circuits, State Machines, Information Technology, Low Latency, Bare Metal, Trace32 - **Published:** August 4, 2026 - **Apply:** https://www.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=ce291a4aab882042 ## About the Role * Degree: Bachelor's or Master's/Ph.D. in Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Computer Science, or a related discipline. * Experience: 15+ years of hands-on experience in embedded systems, server platform architecture, or low-level silicon firmware development. Technical Skill Set * Language Masteries: Expert-level proficiency in C for bare-metal and RTOS environments (e.g., ThreadX, FreeRTOS, Zephyr) and Python for hardware automation and modeling. * Protocol Expertise: Deep technical understanding of high-speed scale-up/scale-out interconnect protocols (UALink, NVLink, CXL, or PCIe Gen5/Gen6). * Network Switching Concepts: Comprehensive knowledge of credit-based flow control, packet routing, physical layer (PHY) equalization, and SerDes management. * Tooling: Strong familiarity with hardware debuggers (JTAG, Lauterbach Lauterbach/TRACE32) and lab equipment (Oscilloscopes, PCIe/Protocol Analyzers). ## Description As the Principal Firmware Architect for UALink Switch Products, you will serve as the technical visionary responsible for defining, designing, and driving the end-to-end embedded software and firmware architecture for our next-generation AI cluster scale-up switches. In this high-impact role, you will bridge the gap between cutting-edge silicon (ASICs) and upper-layer cluster orchestration software. You will define how firmware manages complex scale-up topologies, ensures raw hardware performance (maximizing bandwidth and minimizing latency), and maintains absolute reliability across thousands of connected AI accelerators. 1. Architectural Definition & Design * Fabric Firmware Architecture: Architect and specify the low-level firmware running on internal microcontrollers within the UALink Switch ASIC. * Hardware-Software Co-Design: Collaborate heavily with ASIC design, logic design (RTL), and verification teams to define hardware-software interfaces, registers, scratchpads, and memory maps. * Protocol Implementation: Define the firmware stack to support UALink physical, link, and transport layers, managing credits, routing tables, and flow control. 2. Initialization, Boot, & Fabric Management * Link Initialization & Training: Design deterministic, fast link-training state machines to bring up ultra-high-speed die-to-die and chassis-to-chassis UALink connections. * Topology Discovery & Routing: Architect efficient algorithms for runtime topology discovery, dynamic routing, and credit management to prevent fabric congestion. * Platform Orchestration: Lead the design of SDKs and APIs that expose switch functionality to baseboard management controllers (BMCs) using OpenBMC and Redfish APIs. 3. Performance, RAS, & Security * Latency & Bandwidth Optimization: Fine-tune bare-metal execution paths to guarantee deterministic low latency for collective communication primitives (e.g., All-Reduce, All-to-All). * Advanced RAS (Reliability, Availability, Serviceability): Design robust error-handling, telemetry, and fault-isolation micro-architectures (e.g., link degradation fallback, FEC, and error containment). * Security & Root of Trust: Implement secure boot, cryptographic firmware authentication, and runtime attestation to ensure fabric integrity. ## Related Videos - [Creating a routing app with Google Maps API from scratch](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/831-creating-a-routing-app-with-google-maps-api-from-scratch) - [More efficient software for more efficient microchips](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1164-more-efficient-software-for-more-efficient-microchips) - [A Technical Introduction to Bitcoin's 2nd Layer- The Lightning Network](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/15-a-technical-introduction-to-bitcoin-s-2nd-layer-the-lightning-network) - [Unleashing the Full Potential of the Arm Architecture – Write Once, Deploy Anywhere](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/940-unleashing-the-full-potential-of-the-arm-architecture-write-once-deploy-anywhere) - [Strange New Worlds: shaping the future of the digital age](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/677-strange-new-worlds-shaping-the-future-of-the-digital-age) - [Reducing LLM Calls with Vector Search Patterns - Raphael De Lio (Redis)](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1714-reducing-llm-calls-with-vector-search-patterns-raphael-de-lio-redis) ## Related Articles - [Why Upskilling And Reskilling is Important For Developers](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/428-why-upskilling-and-reskilling-is-important-for-developers) - [How software is steering vehicle technology](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/515-how-software-is-steering-vehicle-technology) - [Is Software Engineering Over-Saturated?](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/418-is-software-engineering-over-saturated) - [How We Built a Worry-Free System That Runs for 10+ Years – And What We’d Do Again](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/751-how-we-built-a-worry-free-system-that-runs-for-10-years-and-what-we-d-do-again) - [What is Software Engineering?](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/289-what-is-software-engineering) - [The Best X (Twitter) Accounts for Developers](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/294-the-best-x-twitter-accounts-for-developers)