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I would guess the market would be pretty fragmented, with only so much demand for each chip. Right now, for example, some people buy FPGA based replacements for
by tyingq 5y ago
I would guess the market would be pretty fragmented, with only so much demand for each chip. Right now, for example, some people buy FPGA based replacements for Commodore 64 "SID" chips, because the originals do fail. Some amount of purists might prefer a "real" chip. But how many? There are also simpler chips in this space that are in demand. Old Kaypros have a couple of custom gate array chips that are hard to replicate, for example.
Or maybe the retro chip synthesizer crowd would buy a product, but again...how many?
- moring 5y agoBad wording on my part. I meant a market for ultra-low-volume fabbing of your own chip designs, not of fixed designs.
- phkahler 5y agoAre PLDs still a thing? They can implement most anything a really low density chip like this could.
- moring 5y agoPLDs evolved to FPGAs, which are far more powerful for that price. Homegrown chips would only be interesting for someone who regards ASIC design as an end, not a means, hence hobbyists.
- tyingq 5y agoThere's also some overlap with PAL and GAL chips, which you can still buy, and might still be acceptable to some hobbyists.
- tyingq 5y agoPerhaps analog ICs would be a better market?
- digitallyfree 5y agoThat's was what came to mind for me as well. For digital you simply can't beat the cost of a mass-produced FPGA over having custom silicon fabricated (at small scale). Not to mention the additional design costs, EDA tool licensing, etc. Now for hardened applications, these large nodes have their uses. But that's a very niche case.