[HN Gopher] 6502 - Guideline to Reverse Engineering (how to read...
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       6502 - Guideline to Reverse Engineering (how to read die shots)
       [pdf]
        
       Author : siraben
       Score  : 116 points
       Date   : 2024-04-28 22:49 UTC (1 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (downloads.reactivemicro.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (downloads.reactivemicro.com)
        
       | siraben wrote:
       | Some of the text seems to be cut off, but there is a docx version
       | that loads fine with LibreOffice.[0] I am hosting a PDF export of
       | that too.[1]
       | 
       | [0]
       | https://downloads.reactivemicro.com/Electronics/Reverse%20En...
       | 
       | [1] https://cloud.siraben.dev/s/z9GTFfjDDgGXHSQ
        
       | surfingdino wrote:
       | What's the legal status of reverse engineered designs? Can they
       | be used commercially?
        
         | ce4 wrote:
         | Not unless one would take special measures of a clean room RE:
         | 
         | https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clean_room_design
        
           | kosmickanga wrote:
           | Based on the SCPA act only giving 10 years of protection and
           | the 6502 coming out in 1975, it might be fine to exploit
           | commercially. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semiconductor_Chi
           | p_Protection_...
        
         | RetroTechie wrote:
         | Afaik:
         | 
         | # IC designs are covered by copyright law. But that covers an
         | IC's _specific_ design (transistors as layed out on the die,
         | artwork etc). So verbatim 1:1 copying is a no-no.
         | 
         | # Their _function_ may be re-implemented if you design that re-
         | implementation yourself. But some aspects of an IC 's function
         | may be covered by patents. This is why eg. there are no 3rd
         | party x86 vendors apart from AMD/Intel or their licensees:
         | leaving out patented bits would produce a non-competitive chip.
         | 
         | Read: with IC for which patents have expired, reverse engineer
         | to determine function -> re-implement using newer tech, is most
         | likely ok. For a recent-ish chip, you may want to skip
         | functions still covered by patents.
         | 
         | The line between "reverse engineer to determine function" and
         | "copy original design verbatim" is fuzzy though. That's where a
         | cleanroom approach comes in (as noted by ce4).
         | 
         | In case of the 6502, I wouldn't sweat it. :D
        
           | surfingdino wrote:
           | Thank you for that clear and informative answer.
        
       ___________________________________________________________________
       (page generated 2024-04-29 23:02 UTC)