VLSI KoreaWorkload and traffic model
Turn core counts and clock targets into a workload model with dependencies, cache misses and sharing. Core count alone does not establish instructions per cycle or application throughput.
MOS TECHNOLOGY / SILICON DESIGN
MOS Technology 6502
A low-cost microprocessor that became widely used in early personal computers, including the Apple II and Commodore PET.
MOS Technology 6502 DIE PHOTOGRAPH
1280 × 1423 PX SOURCE / 100%
Pauli Rautakorpi ·CC BY 3.0· Die photograph · Responsive copies resized and encoded as AVIF and WebP; full photograph retained. No crop, recoloring or generative edits.
Origin & contributions
Original source · Retrieved not recorded
Pauli Rautakorpi · photographer · Included in this image
Credit creator, link source and license, and indicate changes.
Exact MOS Technology 6502 revision A die as identified by source.
Front-facing die with bond wires.
Specifications
3 SOURCE-LINKED FIELDS| Identity & fabrication | |
|---|---|
| Record year | Published analysisComputer History Museum Scope: original MOS 6502 Year basis: introduced. This is distinct from source publication and record update. |
| Packaging, power & physical analysis | |
| Package pins | Manufacturer / primary sourceMOS Technology / archived by Bitsavers Scope: original MOS 6502 Source date: 1982 Package count uses indexed text of the archived manufacturer catalog; full PDF fetch was unavailable. |
| Additional specifications | |
| Data width | Manufacturer / primary sourceWestern Design Center Scope: original MOS 6502 Source date: 2021-01-05 Package count uses indexed text of the archived manufacturer catalog; full PDF fetch was unavailable. |
Source-linked record
ARCHITECTURE → RTL → GDS
All design guides ↗Design with this record
Start with documented specifications, then use the study prompts below. The prompts are engineering guidance, not a claim about this product’s private RTL or physical implementation.
Contracts before RTL
Choose a representative producer/consumer path and specify acceptance, ordering, backpressure, outstanding capacity and reset recovery. Turn these contracts into assertions and test scenarios before optimizing the datapath.
A feasible physical plan
Obtain macro abstracts, pin maps, timing libraries and activity-based power estimates. Explore macro proximity, routing channels and power-grid reachability together. An annotated die photograph can suggest study questions, but cannot supply a netlist, PDK or signoff constraints.
Read the record in its physical scope.
A low-cost microprocessor that became widely used in early personal computers, including the Apple II and Commodore PET.
This record has identification and source evidence. A deeper architectural article has not yet been written. Visible patterns alone do not establish block functions, capacity or an internal protocol.
THE VISUAL EVIDENCE
1 DOCUMENTED SOURCESVisual sources
Hosted image provenance · 1
Die photographHosted in Museum
MOS Technology 6502 — Die photograph
Wikimedia Commons · Pauli Rautakorpi
2,696 × 2,998 pxTechnical archive / analysis
Exact MOS Technology 6502 revision A die as identified by source.
Link not yet checked
View original die photoRights, provenance & link history
- Rights status
- CC LICENSED
- Licence
- CC BY 3.0 ↗
- Local hosting / thumbnails / hotlinking
- Allowed / Allowed / Not enabled
- Attribution
- MOS Technology 6502 revision A die — Pauli Rautakorpi / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY 3.0. No local pixel edits; Wikimedia-generated 1280px thumbnail.
- Identity / confidence
- matched / high
- Evidence reviewed
- 2026-09-06
- Link checked
- Not yet checked · unchecked
Access to a source does not grant permission to reproduce its images.
Source trail
1975: MOS 6502 is introduced ↗ · Computer History Museum
AN-002: Replacement Notes for Obsolete Versions of 6502 8-bit Microprocessors ↗ · Western Design Center
1982 MOS Technology Data Catalog ↗ · MOS Technology / archived by Bitsavers
MOS Technology 6502 revision A die ↗ · Wikimedia Commons · Pauli Rautakorpi