10 Aug
2012
10 Aug
'12
12:20 p.m.
Keep in mind that the design tools that can be used to
reverse
engineer VLSI chips will also continue to improve. These days, taking
a first generation logic IC and *completely* reverse engineering it is
completely feasible even with outdated tools. What will it be like in
2042? Fancy SGI VLSI may turn out to be child's play.
If the IC has failed then it might be impossible to reverse-engineer it
even in principle. It depends on the failure mode, I guess. But if it
depeended on stored charge (anything EPROM or Flash related) then you
might not be able to work out what was and was not chargerd after said
sharge has leaked away.
If dopants have migrated, redering n and p regions not waht they should
eb, then again you may have no way of knowing just how they were
origianlly.
So yes, I tend to be an optimist here.
Yes, and somebody might invent a time machine that can go back to the
time of the original design and copy the original design documents.
Perosnalyl I prefer to work with what I know ot be possible.
-tony