8061 / 8063 op-codes

[Webb]

Chris Cleeland wrote:
> 
> >>>>> "Tom" == Tom Cloud <cloud at peaches.ph.utexas.edu> writes:
> 
>     Tom> [I understand why Ford hides its code, but I don't understand
>     Tom> why they keep the data about the hardware secret.  [...]
>     Tom> I'll bet the competition already has their code, and
>     Tom> vice-versa.  I can get schematics for the radio and I can get
>     Tom> data on virtually everything else on the car, so why not the
>     Tom> ecu?  How is revealing ALL the details of the eec going to
>     Tom> impact Ford at all?
> 
> I suspect that, from the perspective you place, revealing these
> details would likely not impact Ford negatively, especially since this
> is a dead product now (no new ones being produced, right)?
> 
>     Tom> I guarantee you GM and the other competitors already have all
>     Tom> the data about it they want -- this is not a new product
>     Tom> we're trying to figure out.  If we're successful, I think
>     Tom> it'd actually make Ford some money (though an insignificant
>     Tom> amount in comparison to their other sales).]
> 
> I would bet there are two issues that prevent them from doing what you
> want:
> * Cost of support: it costs money to create documentation, proof it,
>   keep it correct, etc.  You (probably correctly) state that Ford
>   won't make much money off this deal, so where's the benefit to Ford
>   of doing this?
> * Fear of liability:  there are many EEC-IV cars trekkin' in the US
>   and abroad.  What if somebody looked at all the info and said "hey,
>   there's this giant bug in here that Ford is ignoring!"  You and I
>   both know the ambulance-chasing lawyers would have a hayday with
>   that, bring a class-action suit, which Ford would have to defend,
>   etc.
> 
> Plus, I sincerely doubt that all the information you want is
> documented anywhere except in some engineer's notes or, worse, some
> engineer's head.  Working in the software industry has shown me that
> unless regulations exist REQUIRING this level of documentation,
> eventually corners WILL be cut and code is blown whose only docs are
> in the brain of the author.
> 
> If the two issues above are the only things holding the company back
> from releasing the information, it is often possible to obtain the
> information on a case-by-case basis simply by signing some
> non-disclosure legal forms.  I don't know how one would go about doing
> that within the colossus of Ford Corporate, but maybe some Ford people
> could tell you.
> 
> Just my perspective,
> -cj
> 
> --
> Chris Cleeland, cleeland at cs.wustl.edu, http://www.cs.wustl.edu/~cleeland/
> Associate Researcher, Washington University Dept. of Computer Science
> "Everybody wants prosthetic foreheads on their real heads."

I'm not familiar with the "8061" - are you sure you don't mean the
"8051" instead. That is a standard microcontroller that has been around
for 200 years or so. The date on the die - viewed through the quartz
window with a microscope is 1979.

Anyway - complete documentation for the 8051/8096 and many later
generation derivatives - is available on the "Siemens" web page -
they'll even send a CD ROM for free.

Ron