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>" Shuttle runs are really only used to get samples for the first version of your chip." Is a "tape out" the same thing as a shuttle run/sample chip run?
by bogomipz 6y ago
>" Shuttle runs are really only used to get samples for the first version of your chip."
Is a "tape out" the same thing as a shuttle run/sample chip run?
- Kliment 6y agoa "tape out" is the process of transforming a design into a physical die - i.e. a manufacturing run. It's when you hand over a design to a foundry to do their thing with it.
- brucehoult 6y agoThe only difference between a shuttle run and mass production is whether your chip is repeated 100 times in different parts of the wafer (surrounded by other people's chips) or a few thousand times completely covering the wafer with copies of just your chip. The manufacturing process is identical either way.
- tails4e 6y agoInteresting fact, the term tape out comes from the way chips were physically laid out back in the early days. The chip layout was manually arranged using pieces of coloured tape on a large workspace/table. Once complete, this was photographed a layer at a time, which was then optically reduced to create the mask sets for manufacture. We still use the term tape out today, but no tape involved. I would love to have an experience of designing back during those days, it's so hands on.
- bogomipz 6y agoFascinating. So was each mask in a mask set individually taped to the work surface one at a time in order to be photographed?