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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Yousef who wrote (26498)	12/5/1997 6:14:00 PM
From: Petz	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 1573984

Yousef, re: my knowledge of semiconductor device reliability. I am a space systems engineer with over 10 years experience designing the space systems, which have the highest standards for reliability of any type of equipment (needless to say, repair in space is rather expensive!) By far the biggest contributors to reliability in space are 1)radiation level (not an issue here) and 2)junction temperature. The standard US DOD reliability handbook specifically covers microprocessors, memory chips and every type of electical and electronic component. In addition, as part of my job, I have ordered parts to the so-called S-Level reliability spec. For these types of parts, the manufacturer must characterize the devices reliability in terms of all factors that might effect it. JUNCTION TEMPERATURE is always a key parameter in these charts. I have never seen Vcc voltage even mentioned in an S-Level reliability characterization document. IF THE Vcc IS WITHIN LIMITS SPECIFIED FOR THE PART, IT IS NOT A FACTOR! From the specification for the AMD-K6 MMX-Enhanced Processor: no long-term reliability or functional damage is caused as long as the AMD-K6 processor is not subjected to conditions exceeding the absolute ratings listed in Table 45.[Table 45 max voltage is 3.5v) Get it? "no long term reliability damage" => Probability(failure) is proportional to Vcc^0, NOT Vcc^3 Petz