What make military spec IC so expensive?

[echo47]

Wandering a bit off-topic ... here's a U.S. Budget summary:
**broken link removed**

 

[rauol]

Basically the cost goes up because of the fallowing points

1: MIL 883 qualification ( the ICs are screened at High and low temperatures, thermal shoks are given along with Viration etc.) the test takes around a week and it costs a lot of money.

2: The volume scales are very low

3: And the manufacturer also wants to make more profit .

 

[Big Boy]

I wander if the military, industrial and commercial chips are in fact the same. Maybe thay test the chips, and characterize them, and if they find some which supportthe higher specs, they tag them as so ??

I heared a few years ago that they did something similar for pentium chips. For example, 233MHz and 266MHz could be the exact same chip, just with two different labels. Cost less for manufacturer to design only one chip. Which was the good days for overclockers! It let me wander if AMD is still doing that, and just put a frequency limit by laser-cutting some jumper traces (ex: on the Athlon XP) but having the exact same chip.

 

[nicleo]

It let me wander if AMD is still doing that, and just put a frequency limit by laser-cutting some jumper traces (ex: on the Athlon XP) but having the exact same chip.

My friend who works in Intel told me that Intel's doing the same technique to their processors. Different jumper settings/traces, different frequencies.

 

[spauls]

Actually Conditions are drastic like , extreme temperature high and low ,
will make reliability problem for military IC's .
also demand is very specific, it is not for general consumer.

 

[kender]

Colleagues,

Does the MIL-spec require that the chip should have an infinite of (at least very long) product lifetime? If it's not infinite, what's the typical lifetime of a MIL-speced chip?

Thanks,
Nick

 

[maharshi_qis]

ylets know the atmospheric conditions in military...damn cold..right?
so ur IC should work at very -ve temps ..also in water...
its related country defence..so it should b higly robust and reliable...so obviousl higher cost

 

[sivakumar_tumma]

Roboustness of military spec of products makes it costly....

it has to be roboust in atmosperic changes, mehanical changes, mishandling etc...

more over EMI issues has to be satisfied..

testing also somewhat expensive.....

 

[adaligorn]

Military standards have always been a big issue for new developers because of the cost. They have to consider very different environmental conditions, endurance and so on. Also the discipline of a soldier should be added on the system they are dealing with. That´s why all systems and components related to military applications are expensive..

 

[mcoster]

In my opinion there is nothing to do with who is richer or not. In everyting, you get what you payed for. It has more to do with quality and reliability of the component then anything else.

There are four main classes that uses the best of the best. These are:

- Life support applications;
- Aerospacial applications;
- Automotive applications;
- Military and defense;

I bet that if you are flying in an airplane you wanted that the manufacturer have bought the best component. Not general purpose one.
When you hit the breakes in your car you want that your ABS works and don´t have a malfunction due to a broken lead during a car excessive vibration.
You dont want that your pacemaker fails when you are skiing at a temperature of -10°C.

The main reason for these components to be more expensive is that they use better raw material, they have tighter limits to be approved on reliability test, its climatic cattegory should be higher, it should work in enviroments with high vibration, it should resist to rapid changes of temperature and so on. Sometimes you have to garantee that your component will be able to operate at saline myst... and probably they are selected one by one during the production process.

In fact i am glad that they are expensive. There is no miracle, better things are more expensive.

Best regards,
Mcoster

 

[Meridian]

Can someone tell why military spec ICs are so expensive compared to commercial/industrial spec ICs?

Also, mil spec integrated circuits are Ceramic, not plastic or polymer based.

 

[ricksidd]

Generally, its the reliability factor that makes the specs more stringent and to achieve that high grade material is used which is more expensive.
To understand it simply we can take example of the PCB used. If we use the lower end FR2 grade PCB, its very cheap but ingress of moisture in the board is very easy but if we use FR4 grade, its cost is 4 times than FR2 but has excellent moisture resistance qualities.
Thus, the grade of matereial used decides the cost.
Sidd

 

[saubhik]

Points are ....


1. They must be rugged -
2. They can be used in the highest possible usable temperature range -
3. They should have proper heat sink -
4. They should have higher precision -
5. Their reliability must have to be higher -

basically these are the main points which make the difference in cost between mil ics and simple ics ,

i hope u can find any other points also , if u find any , let me know pls. ...

 

[xlxlyu]

military spec IC can work in some extreme condition,and it's more reliable

 

[hakeen]

The standards defining military applications are really tough. It is a common recognition from customers that, the main reason why military ICs are so expensive is that high temp range. Which is true, but just a part of story. There are many other reasons whcih make the process of military electronics so expensive, like tracebility of chips provided even back to wafer level. For space applications, you have to have robust IC against radiation. Single events and heavy dope radiation can be fatal for the functionality and safety of ICs. Therefore, high level reliability is required.

For some chips, some producers (like Intel, AMD explained above in the discussion) might be using the same chip. But you can be sure this is not always the case...

it is true military companies pay a lot. But they are also aware of what they buy and its characteristics.

Regards

 

[puviarasu]

The main thing is the silicon process for Military grade ic all the components like FETS, diodes in wafer are isolated from the substrate by a silicon dioxide layer to reduce the leakage current and also to provide isolation and next is the manufacturing quantity which is very low.

 

[neggar_8051]

Because they r made to work in rough enviroment.

 

[rowokii]

It let me wander if AMD is still doing that, and just put a frequency limit by laser-cutting some jumper traces (ex: on the Athlon XP) but having the exact same chip.

My friend who works in Intel told me that Intel's doing the same technique to their processors. Different jumper settings/traces, different frequencies.

Off topic, but yes, it's a common practice. "Exact same chip" even from the same wafer actually will run at different max speed. They test the chips and determine what the speed rating on that particular chip should be. If the manufacturing yield is very high, you will find that most of the chip will run at the fast speed. They still need to sell some chips at the slower speeds, so they will test the chip to verify that it works at the slower speed and just sell it at that speed. So, if you buy a 2GHz chip, it may work up to 2.4GHz, but it was not tested at that speed.

As you noted before, they may do things to frequency limit so that a chip that was only verified for 2GHz is not sold as a 2.4GHz chip by a crook who "re-mark" the chip as 2.4GHz. Contrary to popular belief, they really don't care if some home enthusiast overclocks the chip to 2.4GHz - you just voided the warranty, it does not cost the company any money. Vast majority of the chips are sold to Dell, Sony, HP and the likes who will never do this. They do care if that chip is re-marked as higher speed since it's the company's reputation on the line.

 

[puviarasu]

It let me wander if AMD is still doing that, and just put a frequency limit by laser-cutting some jumper traces (ex: on the Athlon XP) but having the exact same chip.

My friend who works in Intel told me that Intel's doing the same technique to their processors. Different jumper settings/traces, different frequencies.

Off topic, but yes, it's a common practice. "Exact same chip" even from the same wafer actually will run at different max speed. They test the chips and determine what the speed rating on that particular chip should be. If the manufacturing yield is very high, you will find that most of the chip will run at the fast speed. They still need to sell some chips at the slower speeds, so they will test the chip to verify that it works at the slower speed and just sell it at that speed. So, if you buy a 2GHz chip, it may work up to 2.4GHz, but it was not tested at that speed.

As you noted before, they may do things to frequency limit so that a chip that was only verified for 2GHz is not sold as a 2.4GHz chip by a crook who "re-mark" the chip as 2.4GHz. Contrary to popular belief, they really don't care if some home enthusiast overclocks the chip to 2.4GHz - you just voided the warranty, it does not cost the company any money. Vast majority of the chips are sold to Dell, Sony, HP and the likes who will never do this. They do care if that chip is re-marked as higher speed since it's the company's reputation on the line.

its not like they don't check the IC at higher speed :?: they does all testing for its stability( with the standard heat sink they proposed to ship), power consumption, efficiency. before finalizing the correct speed to put on the box, it will be always less than the maximum speed as it should never fail in long run( as it will be used for any application may be life saving also) and efficiency.