Detailed write-up please, or it didn't happen. At least not as described. Really simple ICs with a few counters etc in there might be possible to RE this way.

Detailed write-up please, or it didn't happen. At least not as described. Really simple ICs with a few counters etc in there might be possible to RE this way. Complex ICs with lots of internal state, memory blocks etc like a modern-ish GPU? Not a chance. Some hybrid approach? Software fiddling with the chip's internals, with say. a big FPGA attached to physically probe outputs? Architecture docs, and maybe some IC die shots at hand? Perhaps (hence my ask for "detailed"). Sounds like requiring the kind of hardware setup that would not be available to uni students.