EE Times - August 6, 2007 - (Page 30) Design By Gregory A. Quirk www.eetimes.com Full archive plus On-Demand seminars at www.techonline.com/underthehood. Counterfeit parts, legitimate woes emiconductor Insights (SI) helps other companies protect their intellectual property (IP) and document-infringement rights. But we have found—as countless designers have discovered—that counterfeit parts can really put a damper on our business. Indeed, we’ve been seeing more counterfeit devices coming in over the past few years, which could indicate an alarming trend. S conductor Industry Association. As consumer interest grows in electronic products, so too does the volume of counterfeit devices. In consumer electronics, cost is king; lowering the bill of materials even by a few cents can drastically affect margins and revenue. Suppliers dealing with counterfeit components are willing to offer the parts at prices that are lower than legitimate competitors can match. The low prices are very appealing to OEMs, particularly smaller companies that don’t have an agreement with the manufacturer itself. The drawback is that the parts may not function as well as they should. Unfortunately, selling counterfeit parts is relatively easy. Someone buys a bunch of parts. They find out what the customer needs, etch off the current markings and then restamp the parts with legitimate part numbers One counterfeit device (left) had the correct IM Flash part number on the package but had a Samsung die inside. You can see the actual IM Flash package markings on the second device. The Samsung die can be seen in the third image. This counterfeit device had the correct part number on the package but had multiple, different dice inside, as can be seen in the various X-rays. In the business of analyzing devices, SI purchases thousands of components each year. Sometimes they are bought directly from the manufacturer, sometimes through well-established channels; often they are purchased from other countries, including China. In the past year, SI has seen an increase in the number of counterfeit parts from China. Semiconductor sales are projected to reach $252 billion in 2007, according to the latest numbers from the SemiGregory Quirk (gregoryq@ semiconductor. com) is technology marketing manager at Semiconductor Insights (Kanata, Ontario). He has a bachelor’s degree in systems engineering and is working on his MBA at the University of Ottawa. and logos. With today’s technology, even putting the devices back into a reel to replicate official production is not too difficult. Counterfeiting components has a significant negative impact on the semiconductor industry. First, it can hurt the reputation of a manufacturer. For example, a company buys a device and tries to design it into a system. Unbeknown to the company, the part may not be legitimate. When the part doesn’t work correctly, the company will either blame its design or blame the component manufacturer. Revising the design can delay time-to-market and drain engineering resources. That can have a big impact, especially on smaller companies, which are typically the ones that would buy parts on the open market as opposed to directly from the vendor. Counterfeiting can go way beyond components. In May 2006, for example, EE Times ran an article headlined “Fake NEC company found, says report” (search www.eetimes.com for article ID: 187200176). Instead of creating fake devices, someone counterfeited an entire company with about 50 products, including home entertainment systems, MP3 players, batteries, microphones and DVD players. In addition to copying NEC products, the bogus company had developed products of its own that were not in the legitimate NEC lineup. Counterfeit devices also pose a threat to consumer safety, since they are not likely to have been tested to the standards of the industry. If a semiconductor overheats, for instance, it can destroy the product. If a counterfeit DVD player overheats, it could start a fire and destroy a home. What if a counterfeit part was used in a car? The potential impact of a failing component here could be catastrophic. SI is always scouring the world for the latest and greatest semiconductor components. In the NAND flash market, that would mean sub-60nanometer technology. We have successfully sourced both Samsung 51-nm and Toshiba 56-nm devices, but it took a few tries before we were able to get legitimate components. The first part we expected to receive was the Toshiba 56-nm 16-Gbit multilevel-cell NAND flash. We received a purchase order for the part with a part number that was identical to the one we had requested, which had Toshiba markings. The part arrived, but we noticed something fishy on the package marking. The part number was TC58NVG4D1DTG00. A quick Web search showed hits on the 16-Gbit 56nm MLC NAND flash. The Toshiba title looked a bit odd, but not so unusual that it was flagged. A decap of the device was done and photos of the die and die marking images were taken, per >>32 standard SI protocol. about the author One counterfeit device (left) had Toshiba markings but a Samsung die inside. You can see the actual Toshiba device markings on the second device. The Samsung die can be seen in the third image. ■ 30 Electronic Engineering Times | August 6, 2007 http://www.eetimes.com http://www.techonline.com/underthehood http://www.eetimes.com
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