An avionics guide to uprating of electronic parts

Obsolescence management for long-life contracts: state of the art and future trends

“…However, in the 80s the electronic components industry boomed [12], and the end of the Cold War put pressure on cutting military expenses [20]. By the early 90s, manufacturers migrated away from the low volume military market and focused their efforts on the more profitable commercial market [11,26,30]. The consequence is that from the 80s onwards, technology obsolescence has become a major issue for the military and the aerospace industry [11,18,31].…”

Low temperature electrical measurements of silicon bipolar monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) amplifiers

“…Another solution to the low-temperature parts problem is uprating [1]. Uprating is a process for assessing the capability of a component to meet the performance requirements of the application in which it is used outside the manufacturerÕs specification range [2,3].…”

“…Parameter conformance is a process for thermal uprating in which the part is tested to assess if its functionality and electrical parameters meet the manufacturerÕs specifications over the target temperature range. In parameter conformance, electrical testing verifies compliance with the semiconductor manufacturer-specified parameter limits [1]. The parameter re-characterization method involves mimicking the characterization process used by part manufacturers.…”

Addressing Obsolescence—The Uprating Option

“…There are three methods to uprate parts [3], [12]: parameter conformance, parameter characterization [6], and stress balancing [4]. All three methods need to be validated for a specific application by assembly level testing.…”