Al Charpentier and the VIC chip Question

[matsondawson]

Hi guys,

Has anyone ever spoken to the designer of the VIC chip and maybe checked if the design still exists? Could be very usefull to know exactly how it's working internally, and have it saved for eternity.

Cheers,
Matt

[ral-clan]

Good point. I don't know if anyone has actually made the effort to go to the source.

[matsondawson]

I can't seem to find him with internet searches, to many Als out there. And thinking about it, he must be about 70ish+ by now, I wonder if he's still alive and kicking?

[Bacon]

Brian Bagnall interviewed him for his "The Edge" book so he was alive a couple of years ago.

[RobertBe]

Has anyone ever spoken to the designer of the VIC chip and maybe checked if the design still exists? Could be very usefull to know exactly how it's working internally, and have it saved for eternity.

CBM engineer Bil Herd has responded to that question, thusly --

"I don't believe the designers of the VIC would really have a copy per se, it would have been in drawings and the cad system and as cells more than a master schematic as far as I know. Also they "shouldn't" really have you much of a master copy as that kind of thing is the property of company you are leaving."

"Last I heard, all of those things, schematics and drawings in cabinets, were sitting on skids in the parking lot for an auction back when they sold off everything. Basically the contents of my office were on a skid as well. I found out about the auction only afterwards."

And Bil continues in another message --

"...you might want to see what Brian Bagnall says as far as his conversations with Charpentier and Yannis. In a way the VIC chip was a function of old NMOS rules and layout, you can describe it in VHDL with a months effort or so. "

Truly,
Robert Bernardo
Fresno Commodore User Group
http://videocam.net.au/fcug
July 25-26 Commodore Vegas Expo - http://www.portcommodore.com/commvex