Pics in your Microchips?!?!?!

[Cheesypuff]

Check this out guys!!! this is freaking awsome!! these are a collection of pictures that microchip makers put into their chips!! it's freaking awsome!
Linky link link

[sleepminded]

why'd they do that?

[sbp]

Originally posted by sleepminded

why'd they do that?

Because they can. And likely its fun.

[attgig]

so, which chips have that?
and errr...couldn't this also help in keeping shady retailers from falsifying the actual speed of the chip? (selling lower speed cpu's at higher speeds after oc'ing)?

[Kevster]

I took a class in VLSI design waaaaay back in 1994 (gasp!) and I designed a simple 8-bit microprocessor. The class was built on many other digitial design classes I had taken before, so this processor was already on my drawing board when I took the class. It had 16 different commands, 32 8-bit memory registers (or 16 double-wide ones), and pinouts for an Intel external I/O chip. It had a really simple single-thread execution architecture and I designed it to work at 100Mhz (the 1.6 micron silicon process I was using would give me at least 100Mhz after testing). I was able to get 126 Mhz in simulation testing, but I'd have to test the samples I got back to see what I could get out of the finished product.

After the whole thing was laid out onto a pre-packaged pin-layout (with protection diodes), I found I had acres of room to put stuff so I put my name, my instructor's name, the class, my school name & seal, etc. I didn't have a whole lot of time before I had to submit it to the NSF for it to be built so I couldn't be too elaborate (I also had to do it pixel-by-pixel like MS Paint).

I got it back and I had to test it about 10 months later - it worked great and I was able to test it's peak operating frequency at 124Mhz. I have to admit that was my first time I ever OC'd anything... you always remember that first time, don't you?

[gear02]

that is VERY cool.