005 - Circuits That Go Nowhere
An Interview with Ken Shirriff
06 Nov 2017This week we were joined by the incredible IC reverse engineer, Ken Shirriff . You may know him from his Hack A Day Super Conference talk in 2016 or his blog ’s many posts ( Counterfeit chips , ARM 1 chip , and Sinclair Calculator ). We covered quite a number of restorations ( Visual6502 project , 8008 microprocessor - Ken’s restoration details )
He is currently working the Xerox Alto Restoration and we talked not only about the hardware but the microcode and software restoration. Software languages we touched on were the C predecessor, BCPL and object oriented language Smalltalk . There are number of resources out there restoring and archiving computing history:
- Computer History Museum has some of the mylar chip mask from the old process we discussed.
- Living Computer Museum in Seattle has also collaborated and done some impressive work.
- Siliconpr0n is John McMaster’s site for IC reverse engineering and more.
- http://www.bitsavers.org - Living archive for schematics, software, etc… on any number of electronics items.
Resources for getting started with analog circuits at transistor level:
- “ Microelectronics Circuits ” Sedra and Smith (covers all your favorite circuits like current mirroring)
- Start with die photos… analyzing is much smaller and easier
- When finally working hands on cheap acids for consumer hobbyists (aka glass etchers) also work on ICs to remove layers
- LTSpice (circuit simulator and product that gives Jen college-aged anxiety)
HackaDay Superconference coming up. Everyone on the show ( here and here ) have spoke at this conference. Ken and Alvaro will be there!
Have comments or suggested names for the show? Find us on twitter @unnamed_show , or hit us up at on the comment form . If you still cannot find us, goto http://unnamedre.com