Photo credit: Katie Scansen
iPhone 5 pandemonia has all but subsided as we approach its two week public anniversary, with some of the press now turning their attention to creating new words around the iOS 5 map fiasco. “Maphap” and “mapocalypse” are two I have seen. The latter has the greater impact, but I kind of like the symmetry of the former. On a more serious note though there was more than ample geekcandy to wet ones appetite with the iPhone 5 integrated circuit (IC) reveals. The big one of course was the A6 and the early thoughts on its fabrication and design. Another tidbit was the Cirrus Logic audio IC emerging from an Apple marked package.
All of these reveals came about through reverse engineering (RE). This is not just tearing stuff apart; it encompasses the de-packaging and dissecting of ICs. Launches like the iPhone 5 are times when the RE houses are plopped in the spotlight. They are not traditionally use to the bright light, making for potentially awkward marketing moments as they balance the rush to be the first, the need for quality product and the realities of marketing to those not familiar with RE, potential clients, and , lastly, existing clients. In the next few articles I want to look at the process of RE and the information yielded from the “late” iPhone 5 units that were sacrificed in the name of knowledge.
So, what is RE?
At the most fundamental level semiconductor RE can be broken down into circuit and process. It might be obvious, but the former deals with generating schematic diagrams of the circuits present on the IC while the latter focuses on the physical structures used to implement these circuits and the methods of fabrication such. In terms of the early RE information related to the iPhone 5, there was a mix of the two. The confirmation of Samsung’s 32 nm HKMG process (i.e. Samsung fabricated the A6) was derived from structural evidence, while the confirmation of a custom ARM core was circuit. There were certainly no schematics here, but the evidence lay in the physical layout of circuit elements.
That’s it for now. The next installment will look at the balance of time v. quality and the gee-whiz factor provided by the kit used in RE.