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No, no it's not.

http://anysilicon.com/understanding-maskset-type-mpw-mlm-mlr-single-maskset/  - - "Before wafer production can start, a Maskset needs to be ready."

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CCkQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FTape-out&ei=boVBU7vVN4S-2AW54YDIBw&usg=AFQjCNGNaHLrZFzwChOI0SjI8R2ELDKBAA&sig2=wqMMXt5hs-lnD8aUf2ctpQ

first sentience...  "In electronics design, tape-out or tapeout is the final result of the design cycle for integrated circuits or printed circuit boards, the point at which the artwork for the photomask of a circuit is sent for manufacture."


uuuh, yeah, okay.

Wut?

Both those clearly say the tapeout is prior to maskset being created from the design in the tapeout.

I disagree... Is English your native language?
-  Because I Clearly see the opposite...
Tapeout means the maskset was sent to manufacture(wafer production) is what they both say.

You have that right I guess.
Doesn't change anything tho.
Did you even read them?

You're also the guy who thought KnC "clearly" said they were buying BTC from Bitstamp for refunds when it was very clear that they were using the Bitstamp rate at time of refund.  You were also very clear that you believed the April 1 article from Coindesk saying that Bitcoin had banned China.  So tell me, is English your first language?  I only ask because you seem to have a real hard time making sense of the things you read.

Yes, the Tape-out is the mark of the end of the design phase.  The creation of the mask set is the first step of the manufacturing stage.

Design -> Validate -> Tapeout -> Mask set -> Wafer.

If you can't pick that up from all the articles that you've read, nor from all the people that have tried to correct you, then you're hopeless my friend. 

That quote makes no mention of the tapeout process, which is the process of sending the details and specifications to create the lithography mask set.


The artwork for the photomask.  Read it again, emphasis on the word for

better than eastenders

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Rc8k_D3yYoE/Tw4IyOKMysI/AAAAAAAAAls/awgasVzJMfA/s320/Stephen-Colbert-Popcorn.gif

https://i.imgur.com/4qLOf5C.png


Mask is clearly a part of the design phase, and required BEFORE sent to fabrication,
and our chips have been sent to fab.  Unless Intel is wrong too, lol.
this may help you understand too... http://computer.howstuffworks.com/euvl1.htm
http://users.wfu.edu/ucerkb/Nan242/L15-Photolithography.pdf
The mask itself is used in the lithography process to actually print onto the silicon. It's like a transparent photo that radiation is passed thru to burn the chip design onto the silicon, making the chips. When they submitted the artwork, or "mask" to the manufacturer, that was "Tapeout".

Comprehension lesson.

"To make a car, a manufacturer takes rolled steel and stamps it into shapes which are welded together."

Means, the car is made from the following process, not that the car is made then the steel is stamped.

Since you obviously didn't read it....
https://i.imgur.com/3XO0nod.png

You are in denial, and should begin a 12 step program maybe?...  
Masking is complete before it can be sent to fab, simple as that.
One cannot tapeout without having a mask done.
The mask itself is used to print the circuits, so it's impossible to tapeout without it, because tapeout is the sending of the mask to manufacture the wafer.

You sure you aren't having problems with English?

The CAD work done by the designers is what will eventually produce the mask. The designers have to finish the design before the mask can be created from said design. When design is complete, you get "tape-out"

Design is sent to the manufacturer, manufacturer creates the masks FROM the design. The masks are then used to form the layers of metal and dopant layers on the silicon wafers.

In your Wikipedia quote: "the point at which the artwork for the photomask of a circuit is sent for manufacture"

The artwork is the source of design for the photomask. How can you create a mask without a design?

Edit: To be more clear, the verb "sent" in this quote is connected to the noun artwork; aka the art is being sent, not the mask. "for the photomask" is a phrase describing the artwork.

lol. I read something different. When the tape out is complete then the photomask starts manufacturing...

I'm just quoting to preserve one of the worst self-burns in the history of Bitcointalk. Please don't delete my post, although it is trivial. The ambiguity in English language grammar is such a trap: Pharmacist dispensed with accuracy.

artwork FOR THE photomask

This.

nuff said.

I know where the problem was:

Tape-out is the final step of the physical design stage, and is used to move on to mask creation at the foundry.

see section of design steps for clarification:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_circuit_design