FROM EDN EUROPE: Obsolete parts outlive the systems that designed them

Obsolescence problems can appear in a variety of forms. If you have an ASIC that is or is about to become obsolete, the process in which it was originally manufactured is likely no longer available, and you may need to redesign the part in a modern process or, perhaps, convert it to an FPGA. The obsolescence problem may go further, however. You may find that, even if you have access to the original design information, neither the hardware nor software necessary to read that data is still in service. Older magnetic tapes are an example. New drives have superseded the drives that read them, and no way exists to transfer that information into your current EDA environment.

To address this problem, MCE (Micro Circuit Engineering) has retained a variety of obsolete data readers in working order and can transfer circuit descriptions from older media into a modern system to enable the generation of netlists. The oldest of these readers is now more than 30 years old, but with military parts in particular offering lifetimes of 10 or 20 years, re-engineering processes may still require such old documentation.

MCE, +44 1684 297777, www.micro-circuit.com.