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Company Technology Products ASIC Obsolete IC Replacement Program
©2006 LinearChip, Inc. |
Partnership ProgramThe ASIC (application
specific integrated circuit) development process can be a daunting challenge
for our customers. We strive to make it
easy for you. Here we describe the key
steps in the process. All we ask of you
is to help us understand your requirements.
We will take it from there.
We execute a NDA
to protect our mutual confidential information.
You provide your
technical requirements in whatever form that you have such as a
specification, block diagram, system schematics, or even a wish list of
features.
If necessary, we
will help you partition your system into the optimum ASIC or set of ASICs.
We will explore
the best circuit approach and determine the best semiconductor process for your
requirements, while optimizing performance, cost, and schedule.
We will provide a
complete proposal that defines the statement of work, technical strategy,
non-recurring engineering (NRE) costs, schedules, and production pricing.
After receiving
your purchase order for the project, we will immediately assign the necessary
engineering staff and begin the development.
The first step is
to convert your requirements into a mutually acceptable ASIC specification. The next step is the circuit design and
simulation of the chip, either by us, you, or together. You decide how you want to proceed this is
the essence of our ASICFLEXTM program.
This is followed by the physical layout and layout verification of the
ASIC. Once completed, it is ready for
mask fabrication.
In parallel with
these efforts, our product engineer develops the device characterization
hardware and the production test program.
Our foundry
partner takes our layout database, makes the photomasks for your design, and
runs an engineering lot. Alternatively,
a multiproject wafer approach could be used to minimize development costs;
however, this usually takes a little longer.
Once the fabrication process is completed, we immediately ship cut and
go (unscreened) prototypes to you and we begin the device characterization
process and debugging of the production test program.
Once the device
is fully characterized, it is ready for preproduction. Here, we deliver small quantities in the
production package form so that you can evaluate your system and perform any necessary
qualification. If you require
MIL-STD-883 compliant devices, we will perform the full qualification. Once qualification is finished, we crank up
production. Typically, our customers
place yearly orders with regular releases, although other arrangements can be made.
Contact our sales department. They will send an NDA form to you (or we can use your version) and you can
send your requirements to us. After our review, we will arrange a conference call or visit to discuss them and then we begin
our analysis. |