Extending the Life of Semiconductor Components
Providing a seamless source of supply
Semiconductor-driven electronic applications are an indispensable part of modern society. The demand for semiconductors is predominantly fueled by short-lifecycle consumer products. With a strong emphasis on AI, automotive innovations, and portable devices, semiconductor suppliers have defocused support of legacy devices by decreasing product lifecycles, thus accelerating obsolescence, as they consolidate their lines.
According to analysts, the automotive and industrial sectors are projected to experience significant growth in the global semiconductor market by 2030.* However, these are markets with significantly longer lifecycles, requiring a continuity of semiconductor supply up to, and in excess of, 15 years. This presents a dilemma for many customers in the marketplace, as the life of the applications will exceed the component supply.
3 key options for customers in extending component life:
Last time buy and in-house long-term storage
- Requires accurate forecasting, and the sums of money tied up in last-time-buy stock represent a significant financial investment.
- Forecasts are rarely accurate, and often prove to be unreliable, due to unforeseen market changes that hinder redesigns or alter market conditions.
- Requires appropriate in-house storage facilities, which most organizations do not have.
Purchase of long-term stored components from an authorized distributor
- Must ensure components are authentic and have been properly stored.
- Our research shows that properly stored components will not only be reliable in the field, but of high quality well past their date code. Learn more
Work with licensed manufacturer who is authorized to continue component supply
- This is a viable option to receive components manufactured to the original supplier datasheet, often with the option to build-to-order.
- However, it is essential to partner with a manufacturer that has both the experience and the relationships with the Original Component Manufacturers (OCMs).
Rochester has been enabling semiconductor product transfers since 1992, possessing a well-established process. We have manufactured over 20,000 device types, have over 12 billion die in stock, and can manufacture over 70,000 device types.
While some manufacturers may attempt to “replicate” the original component based on reverse engineering, Rochester is licensed to manufacture devices no longer produced by the original component manufacturer. We work directly with the OCMs to ensure a seamless transfer of products that are approaching end-of-life (EOL).
To ensure successful licensed manufacture of products, it is critical to conduct a proven product transfer process:
- Identify the critical information required to continue manufacture in terms of design (GDS2 including layer map, process design rules etc.), assembly (bonding diagrams, package styles and materials), and test (test programs and hardware, ATE type and configuration). Ideally, this technical interaction should take place as early as possible in the life of the product.
Rochester’s Product Transfer Process
To support product transfer and licensed manufacturing of semiconductor components, Rochester Electronics has a state-of-the-art test and manufacturing facility at our headquarters in Newburyport, Massachusetts. We can perform hermetic and plastic packaging, and complex hybrid assembly.
We offer a full range of manufacturing services, including design, wafer storage, die processing, assembly, test, reliability, and IP archiving, providing single solutions through to full turnkey manufacturing, enabling faster time-to-market. Rochester’s design services can replicate the original device, avoiding lengthy expensive system requalification, recertification, or redesign.
The end-product is a form, fit, and functional replacement guaranteed to the original data sheet performance.
Since 2016, Rochester’s semiconductor package assembly capabilities have grown to include: quick-turn IC prototyping, hermetic assembly, plastic assembly, component lead finishing, package, substrate, and leadframe replication.
While many vendors in the industry are phasing out lead frame packages, Rochester continues to invest in a range of options, such as QFNs, PLCCs, QFP, PDIPs, TSSOPs, and SOICs.
We offer a wide variety of high-quality testing solutions, including analog, digital, mixed signal, memory, and power, across multiple test platforms to solve customer and supplier challenges. The Newburyport facility incorporates over 16 major ATE platforms, with a mix of both legacy and modern equipment (including Teradyne ETS-88 as well as J750 platforms). This enables us to migrate legacy manufacturing processes to modern platforms, all at our in-house facilities.
Rochester is registered to manufacture ITAR products and process workflows include the following certifications:
- ISO-9001:2015
- ISO-14001:2015
- ANSI/ESD S20.20-2014
- IATF-16949:2016
- MIL-STD-883 TM 5004 and 5005
- QML Certification to MIL-PR-38535 cage code (3V146)
- In-House DLA Land and Maritime Lab Certified for Groups A, B, C and D
Some examples of successful product transfers include the Motorola (Freescale) MC68040 32-bit microcontroller, NXP P80C592 8-bit microcontroller, and the ams OSRAM TSL1401 photodiode sensor array. Further details can be found at the link to the case studies here.
*(Source: McKinsey, Chip hunting: “The semiconductor procurement solution when other options fail” – April 4, 2023)
Manufacturers
