Re:Reverse-engineering a carry-lookahead adder in the Pentium
by Philpax on Saturday January 18, 2025 @10:09PM
(#42753247)
At this level? You can use your favourite HDL and a FPGA, and then look into things like TinyTapeout and such. It's not as inaccessible as it seems!
Re:Reverse-engineering a carry-lookahead adder in the Pentium
by phendrenad2 on Sunday January 19, 2025 @05:32AM
(#42755804)
HDL is fun and all, but actually choosing the physical layout and sizing of transistors seems like a much more fun puzzle.
Re:Reverse-engineering a carry-lookahead adder in the Pentium
by hn3er1q on Sunday January 19, 2025 @11:45AM
(#42758650)
It does take a time investment, but it’s absolutely possible today.
https://tinytapeout.com/specs/analog/
If you’re willing to do something that’s not manufacturable, but way easier to understand, then you might try this: https://tinytapeout.com/siliwiz/
Re:Reverse-engineering a carry-lookahead adder in the Pentium
by aeonik on Sunday January 19, 2025 @09:11AM
(#42757124)
While it's not "easy", I was surprised to learn recently that DIY microprocessors are far more accessible than I thought.
Here is BreakingTaps fabricating home made chips, he has a fair bit of equipment though
https://youtu.be/RuVS7MsQk4Y?si=c8PH-FMfcfWLJLiG
There a a few different techniques that can be used. Most of the lithography techniques use Hydrofluoric Acid, but if you are okay with slower build times you can etch the circuits directly with Ion beams or Electron Beams.
But the short story is you need an overhead projector, a microscope, and a few gnarly chemicals. Otherwise fairly straightforward.
(I guess I could always buy hundreds of thousands of transistors and start soldering...)