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>Such an entity cannot, CANNOT be a corporation. How would that work? You want a government designed secure processor... why wouldn’t you figure that the reaso

>Such an entity cannot, CANNOT be a corporation. How would that work? You want a government designed secure processor... why wouldn’t you figure that the reasons they are insecure now is because of gov involvement? If you want an open source processor... that’s cool, and corporations can/are already do that. Now... with any solution proposed, verify to me that the silicon as designed is really the silicon made, esp when talking about 7nm.

pytyper2 8y ago
Can I enter your factory and inspect the dies as they come off the line before they are sealed? If yes, then you could indeed verify the silicon is as designed. Probably just as you could take a chip that does not work and diagnose the problem, this functionality would seem to be necessary to successfully build a chip/chip factory in the first place. How would you troubleshoot the manufacturing process if you couldn't audit the product for quality/accuracy?
- peter_d_sherman 8y ago
  Completely random inspections of product in any stage of the manufacturing process by third parties is a good idea. I don't know the practical reality of any company permitting that, but it's a good idea. Some future chip manufacturing group will hopefully do that. Audits of any form at any time by any party should be permitted, rather than denied.
peter_d_sherman 8y ago
One possible solution: https://libresilicon.com https://libresilicon.com I don't care who produces the processor, but whoever does must be open, transparent, accountable, auditable, etc. as enumerated above. Whichever group does this must not be guided by Lawyers who enter into secret agreements. That is, ALL legal aspects of this group must be open the public as well. You raise an excellent point, which is "how is silicon verified as being the same silicon that was designed?". Usually silicon is verified through tests at various levels of abstraction (electrical, signal, logical, single instruction, programs, etc.) but none of these directly verify that the silicon produced is the silicon designed. So, you are correct, that's a very real problem that needs a very real solution in the future...

pytyper2 8y ago

Can I enter your factory and inspect the dies as they come off the line before they are sealed? If yes, then you could indeed verify the silicon is as designed. Probably just as you could take a chip that does not work and diagnose the problem, this functionality would seem to be necessary to successfully build a chip/chip factory in the first place. How would you troubleshoot the manufacturing process if you couldn't audit the product for quality/accuracy?

peter_d_sherman 8y ago
Completely random inspections of product in any stage of the manufacturing process by third parties is a good idea. I don't know the practical reality of any company permitting that, but it's a good idea. Some future chip manufacturing group will hopefully do that. Audits of any form at any time by any party should be permitted, rather than denied.

peter_d_sherman 8y ago

One possible solution: https://libresilicon.com https://libresilicon.com I don't care who produces the processor, but whoever does must be open, transparent, accountable, auditable, etc. as enumerated above. Whichever group does this must not be guided by Lawyers who enter into secret agreements. That is, ALL legal aspects of this group must be open the public as well. You raise an excellent point, which is "how is silicon verified as being the same silicon that was designed?". Usually silicon is verified through tests at various levels of abstraction (electrical, signal, logical, single instruction, programs, etc.) but none of these directly verify that the silicon produced is the silicon designed. So, you are correct, that's a very real problem that needs a very real solution in the future...