Tag Archives: Ice

California says no, you can’t cover your license plate

Posted on by

The now-rejected SB-712 bill was meant to protect location data privacy from the spying electronic eyes of automated license plate readers Continue reading California says no, you can’t cover your license plate→

TinyFPGA is a Tiny FPGA Board

Posted on by

We recently noticed an open source design for TinyFPGA A-Series boards from [Luke Valenty]. The tiny boards measure 18 mm by 30.5 mm and are breadboard friendly. You can choose a board that holds a Lattice Mach XO2-256 or an XO2-1200, if you need the additional capacity.

The boards have the JTAG interface on the side pins and also on a top header that would be handy to plug in a JTAG dongle for programming. The tiny chips are much easier to work with when they are entombed in a breakout board like this. Bigger boards with LEDs and other …read more

Continue reading TinyFPGA is a Tiny FPGA Board→

Integrated Circuit Reverse Engineering, 1970s Style

Posted on by

We are used to stories about reverse engineering integrated circuits, in these pages. Some fascinating exposés of classic chips have been produced by people such as the ever-hard-working [Ken Shirriff].

You might think that this practice would be something new, confined only to those interested in the workings of now-obsolete silicon. But the secrets of these chips were closely guarded commercial intelligence back in the day, and there was a small industry of experts whose living came from unlocking them.

Integrated Circuit Engineering Corporation were a Scottsdale, Arizona based company who specialised in semiconductor industry data. They have long since …read more

Continue reading Integrated Circuit Reverse Engineering, 1970s Style→