Cover story
keep up with data centre demands and portable product demands. Long-term systems are a market misalignment with all memory types because all memory types are short-term products.
Key questions to consider: What is the component’s lifecycle status across the application’s lifetime? Not only does the end-product’s lifetime must be considered in component selection, but when the component’s lifetime started, as well as the product’s lifetime start dates and end dates must be accounted for. Choosing the right components means alignment of product dates with all component dates.
Are the key components of the design comprehensively documented? Software is about 10x the cost of change versus hardware. Any component that is directly controlled by software will be the most valuable to keeping a long-term system shipping. These components are typically the highest price items in a BOM, too. The documentation and archive requirements associated with these types of components must be elevated to alleviate long-term system risk of sustainment.
Can the true design fi les (VHDL, Verilog, Spice-Models, Constraints, Source Test- Vectors) be archived at the design phase to offer a chance of rebuild if the unexpected happens? This pertains to the most intricate, expensive and software-dependent products. To minimise maintenance risks, it is crucial to create an archive that contains all relevant information about these products. This archive should be independent of any EDA tools and operating systems.
Does the design contain proprietary intellectual property? If so, the ability to “port” such designs when the components are made
obsolete may be compromised, or subject to relicensing and royalties. Embedded IP blocks, particularly within FPGAs and ASICs, are commonplace. However, these IP blocks can also make portability and sustainability almost impossible if efforts are not taken to ensure there is a plan for these products. This plan may have to be a fully funded last time buy or IP licenses up front that allow porting from one technology to another. Simply clicking a button and incorporating IP blocks (presumably because it’s easy to do so) is not a solid long-term system plan. If IP blocks are not incorporated into a long-term plan at the design phase,
it may be impossible to come back to them years later for a solution.
The right partner From our experience at Rochester Electronics, many companies do almost none of this planning for long-term systems in the design phases where the impact would be maximised. From component selection, all the way through IP block selection, there are many ways a long-term system company can mitigate risk and schedule for system longevity. Ultimately, partnering with Rochester Electronics to ensure long-term system availability is the best solution. Find out more:
www.rocelec.com
www.electronicsworld.co.uk October 2023 07
https://www.rocelec.com?utm_medium=FrontCover&utm_source=ElectronicsWorld&utm_campaign=NOV24ElectronicsWorld&utm_content=Chip_FrontCover
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46
