Chip Fab

Moose Boy turned up on a Motorola RF integrated circuit designed for the Nokia 5190 handset. For years, chip designers tucked such tiny drawings in unused space on the prototype, the master from which others are produced. In these days of compressed production cycles, smaller circuits, overworked engineers, and more automated production, however, chip graffiti […]

Moose Boy turned up on a Motorola RF integrated circuit designed for the Nokia 5190 handset. For years, chip designers tucked such tiny drawings in unused space on the prototype, the master from which others are produced. In these days of compressed production cycles, smaller circuits, overworked engineers, and more automated production, however, chip graffiti has become a dying art.

Chipworks - a company that analyzes new silicon wafers for performance and patent issues - is doing its part to preserve the form. Browse its collection of micromasterpieces, where Moose Boy hangs alongside Mr. Muscle (from a Siemens power controller) and Pac-Man (found on a Temic RF transistor), at www.chipworks.com/SiliconGallery/07main.htm.

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