Assignment

You must find an embedded device that you can take apart. A piece of consumer electronics is ideal, but it can be anything that contains integrated circuits mounted on a PCB. If you aren't sure that you can take your device apart in a non-destructive way, then you should choose a device that you can afford to break. See John if you cannot find any suitable device. Disassemble the device to the point where you can see all integrated circuits (ICs, or chips) inside it.

Part 1

For each IC, or for the 5 largest ICs (for devices which have more than 5 ICs), report the following:

• The pin count and arrangement. Arrangement is something like dual inline package, single inline package, zig-zag inline package, pin grid array, ball grid array, quad flat package, etc. If you don't know these terms, look them up on Wikipedia.
• Who made the IC?
• What identifying marks, identifiers, or other product numbers are on the IC?
• Determine the purpose of the IC. You can do this in two ways:
  • If searching for one of the numbers or identifiers tells you the purpose of the IC, that is fine. Try to find a manual for the IC if possible.
  • If web searches are not successful, you'll need to make an educated guess about the purpose of the IC by combining what you know about the device with what can you determine by looking at the device's PCB.
• Try to determine the cost of the IC

Part 2

Say when the device was made (estimate if you don't know for sure).

Estimate the total cost of the PCB portion of the device.

Part 3

Briefly describe your findings in class on Tues August 28. Bring the device to show the class.

What to Hand In

This assignment is due BEFORE CLASS on Tuesday August 28.

This homework requires electronic handin of a document in PDF format that answers parts 1 and 2 above. The handin directory is "hw1". See the submission instructions for more details.