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How to hide circuitry on a surfboard PCBoard

M

Mike V.

Jan 1, 1970
0
I have designed a portion of a circuit that I plan to put on a
"Surfboard" and just plug it into my main PCB.

However, I want to hide the details. I've seen a competitor use some
kind of green cement to coat all the ICs on the surfboard, top and
bottom, to prevent reverse engineering. Does anyone know where to get
this type of material?

Thanks,
Mike
 
R

Rene Tschaggelar

Jan 1, 1970
0
Mike said:
I have designed a portion of a circuit that I plan to put on a
"Surfboard" and just plug it into my main PCB.

However, I want to hide the details. I've seen a competitor use some
kind of green cement to coat all the ICs on the surfboard, top and
bottom, to prevent reverse engineering. Does anyone know where to get
this type of material?

This measure can hardly defeat reverse engineering, but is used for
environmental protection.

Rene
 
I

Ian Stirling

Jan 1, 1970
0
Mike V. said:
I have designed a portion of a circuit that I plan to put on a
"Surfboard" and just plug it into my main PCB.

However, I want to hide the details. I've seen a competitor use some
kind of green cement to coat all the ICs on the surfboard, top and
bottom, to prevent reverse engineering. Does anyone know where to get
this type of material?

Potting compound.
In most good electronics catalogs.

This (in combination with grinding off the ID numbers) will deter anyone
unwilling/able to spend a few hundred, to a few thousand on reverse
engineering it. (or who has the equipment and time)
 
D

Dr. Anton Squeegee

Jan 1, 1970
0
Mike V. said:
I have designed a portion of a circuit that I plan to put on a
"Surfboard" and just plug it into my main PCB.

However, I want to hide the details. I've seen a competitor use some
kind of green cement to coat all the ICs on the surfboard, top and
bottom, to prevent reverse engineering. Does anyone know where to get
this type of material?

You're describing potting compound. It's usually an Epoxy-based
goo that you can embed the entire board into, and just leave the
connecting leads hanging out.

However, keep one thing in mind: If your device is aimed in any
way at the amateur radio market, you will almost certainly hurt your own
sales by doing this. There are still many hams (I know, 'cause I'm one
of them!) that like to understand how any device they're using is put
together, and how to repair it if need be without spending a bloody
fortune.

Translation: When I shop for hardware, I look for it to be as
self-serviceable as possible. If part or all of it is potted or
encapsulated explicitly to prevent self-service, I don't buy it. Period.
 
K

Ken Smith

Jan 1, 1970
0
Ian Stirling said:
This (in combination with grinding off the ID numbers) will deter anyone
unwilling/able to spend a few hundred, to a few thousand on reverse
engineering it. (or who has the equipment and time)

For "grinding off" read "static zapping".

Removing part numbers in this way almost always lowers production yeld too
much.

Many chip makers will, if paid enough, put your part number on the
packages. All you have to do is get the LM324s labeled as IS74HC04 and
the 74HC244s labeled as LMC669. This would delay the person more than
mere removal of numbers would.
 
S

Syner

Jan 1, 1970
0
In most case ,you can protect your product by software , FPGA ,PLD etc.
 
A

Active8

Jan 1, 1970
0
I have designed a portion of a circuit that I plan to put on a
"Surfboard" and just plug it into my main PCB.

However, I want to hide the details. I've seen a competitor use some
kind of green cement to coat all the ICs on the surfboard, top and
bottom, to prevent reverse engineering. Does anyone know where to get
this type of material?

Thanks,
Mike
your best bet on protecting your product/company from competition is to
be the best in the biz, period.

brs,
mike
 
K

Keith R. Williams

Jan 1, 1970
0
Only if you use the Actel FPGA. In most other cases, the logic in an FPGA
has to be loaded into it at power up. This download can be recorded and
copied. There is no protection against a straight up copy of the FPGA
design if the person knows which FPGA and the downloaded bit stream.

Xilinx now has the option of encrypting (triple DES) the configuration
file in the PROM. The keys are stored in a battery backed up SRAM on
the FPGA. A button cell is supposed to last 10 years.

Xilinx has some slick stuff (multipliers, BLock RAMS, and PowerPCs)
embedded into their logic mesh. There is a lot of other stuff in there
that's not obvious at first scan. Yes, FPGAs are way cool! ...maybe
again in a future life...
 
J

John Pham

Jan 1, 1970
0
Mike V. said:
I have designed a portion of a circuit that I plan to put on a
"Surfboard" and just plug it into my main PCB.

Why not just use a PAL/GAL and blow the fuse - trace on PCB is next to
worthless
if the state machine on PAL/GAL is complex enough
 
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