Bringing Up a Reverse Engineered CPU
By Lynn Reed

I have previously written about reverse engineering a CPU, and how we extract a Verilog netlist from a layout. Getting the netlist is only the half-way point. Now it must be verified.  The netlist of the CPU might..

Libraries for Reverse Engineering
By Lynn Reed

Tekmos is in the business of reverse engineering obsolete designs to support customers who need a continuing supply of these older parts. In these applications, it is necessary to...

The Design of a Masked Rom
By Lynn Reed

In this article, I would like to cover the choices behind making a masked ROM, and the design of the ROM array.  The first question that should be asked is why would anyone ever design a masked ROM when..

The First Simulation
By Lynn Reed

Near the end of the reverse engineering process, we wind up with a Verilog netlist and a library. The next step is to see if it works.  The first thing we do is to put the design into our...

The Hunt for SCR
By Lynn Reed

This is a story of how we inadvertently created an SCR while using externally sourced physical IP, and how we discovered and fixed it.  SCR stands for Silicon Controlled Rectifier........