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To: Praveen Johal who wrote (1671)	10/24/1997 2:12:00 PM
From: Petz	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6843

Praveen, here's a simple explanation of the "mask" of a chip. Chips are built in layers of silicon, and in the case of the K6 there are 5 layers about half a cm square. Each layer is contructed in several steps using a photographic process in which exposure to light controls where transistors and resistors are located on the chip and how they are connected. The "mask" controls this light exposure and therefore the entire electrical design of the chip. There are really several masks for each layer, but the combination of all of them is refered to as "the mask." In addition to controlling the electrical design of the chip, the mask also determines where the circuit componenets are located and how they are interconnected. A mask might be changed to change the electrical design, for example, to put more memory cells in the L1 cache. Changes to the mask may also be made for "layout" reasons, for example, by moving the L1 cache, it may be possible to shorten critical distances on the chip and speed it up. Petz