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Can anyone find the IC is use

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stuboy78

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I am planning to use an IC from Texas in my project. But i dont want anyone who opens the circuit to know what ive put inside. Ive removed the name of the IC using sand paper ;)

Now can anyone still be able to find what IC it is by removing it and hooking onto some IC reader or something?

Pls let me know.

What other precautions can i take so that no one copies my circuit?
 
What IC is it? Its very possible someone can make a pretty good guess on what it is if they know what the project actually does, and can look at how the IC is connected.

Theres no magic device that reads ICs, but by studying a circuit, you can usually have a pretty good idea how it works.

You could pot the entire circuit in opaque potting compound. I have seen that done. It won't make reverse engineering it impossable, but I can tell you from experiance it is very difficult to remove. Beware it makes repairing the circuit close to impossable.
 
I am planning to use an IC from Texas in my project. But i dont want anyone who opens the circuit to know what ive put inside. Ive removed the name of the IC using sand paper ;)

Now can anyone still be able to find what IC it is by removing it and hooking onto some IC reader or something?

Pls let me know.

What other precautions can i take so that no one copies my circuit?

Testing it out of circuit might be difficult.
But depending on the complexity of your circuit and the ability of the person trying to figure it out, It might be Quite Easy, by testing it in your circuit, using a Scope and DMM.
 
The only way to create a project that no-one can copy is to use a microcontroller - such as a PIC - and have some or all the processing done inside the chip.
Almost anything else can be copied.
I know a company in Taiwan that will copy almost any PC board and deliver copies to you in 2 weeks.
 
Putting code on a uC is no safe bet. Even uC's with fuses to lock the code can be hacked given the right equipments. You have to have some kind of special coding for someone to go through the trouble, though.

I'm assuming he means he's using a Texas Instruments microcontroller, like an MSP or something?

I don't know. We can't read your mind. You have to tell us more info. Are you trying to protect a uC's code, or just some circuit with some logic chips.

I bought a product that was entirely incased in potting compound. One of the connectors at the edge became loose from the board and it's impossible to fix. Not a fan, since it cost me over $400.
 
If your circuit is something entirely new the best way to avoid copying is obtaining a patent on it.

Being caught with an illegal copy of a patent protected device would ruin the copier (if you have a good lawyer).

Some products do even require patent protection as proved: Woods of Colchester Ltd. developed a fan with variable pitch blades. It was not patented. Novenco copied the design and after five years Novenco was bankrupt. The reason: The blades broke loose and took off at high speed trying to enter an orbit. On the way they caused severe damage. :)

Boncuk
 
Patent protection provides you almost no protection whatsoever. China hardly recognizes patents and a patent just gives your opposition a head-start. Many companies have daily links to patent offices to sift through the latest designs with intent to copy anything marketable.
Finding an offending manufacturer is almost impossible and starting a court case costs at least $50,000.
Proving your case is extremely hard and getting compensation is impossible. The offending manufacturer simply goes out of existence.
I had a typical example. All my kits were copied by a manufacturer in Hong Kong.
The reply from DIY Kits Hong Kong was: “We don’t recognise copyright in HK, Colin”
 
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