ICB Boeblingen Germany fab closure and information

The ICB fab in Boeblingen Germany will be closed at the end of the year and many of the general purpose I2C-bus GPIO/LED blinkers/dimmers and 16C UARTs will be transferred to a new fab. The transfer process is underway and going smoothly with samples available through 3Q and 4Q 2007 and transitioning from ICB die to ICN8 or TSMC die starting in late 2007. We are absolutely committed to these popular products and want to make sure there is no concern for our customers so we are providing this information about the ICB fab closure and device transfer so you can stay updated on the transfer status.

• Interface Products Overview of the ICB Transfer
• C175, C100, and C075 Process Transfer Communication Package

If you require a qualification package, contact your account manager or us directly at I2C.Support@NXP.com. The logistics cut over from ICB to transfer fab die is being planned for 6 months after qualification but will be adjusted based on ICB die inventory and consumption.

We will build samples of all devices being transferred in a TSSOP package. We will build other package options as per customer request (2-3 week turn-around-time). ICB samples will be scrapped and transfer fab samples will be stocked in the eSample center 4 weeks after the logistics cut over date. Transfer fab sample requests should be sent to your account manager, distributor, or directly to I2C.Support@NXP.com.

The decision was made to discontinue a few devices that were being manufactured in ICB since it is expensive to make the new mask set and characterize the device. These devices had very low sales or there is an improved version of the device that you can move to. If there is a major concern on one of the discontinued devices, please contact us so we can reconsider and transfer the device or, as a less costly option, build more ICB die bank and extend the period before the device is discontinued.

• PCA951x - Replace with PCA951xA Hot Swap Bus Buffers
• PCA9533/02 - Replace with PCA9533/01 LED Dimmer which is same function expect different fixed address
• PCA9541/02 - Replace with PCA9541/01 2-to-1 demux which is same function expect doesn't have hot swap feature
• PCA9553/02 - Replace with PCA9553/01 LED Blinker which is same function except different fixed address
• SC16C non-B - Replace with SC16C "B" UART; see application notes AN10257 (one and two channel devices) or AN10312 (four channel devices) which describe the differences

/G at the end of a part number signifies that the part number was always built with Pb-Free packaging. This was done in 2004-2005 for select customers since they wanted to make sure they only received Pb-Free devices and not any Pb devices still in the channel. Since NXP has been shipping Pb-Free packages since 2005, these /G part numbers are no longer required. We are now going to use the /G to mean that the part number was always built with ICB die. This is needed since some customers (e.g, computing and automotive segment) may not want to switch to ICN8 die until they have had a chance to qualify it in their application. We are estimating how much ICB die bank needs to be built to supply these customers into 2008 and appreciate any specific demands from individual customers/how long they think it will take to qualify the transfer fab die so that we can better size the ICB die bank. Customers currently ordering /G devices should move to the base part number (e.g., PCA9557PW/G becomes PCA9557PW) as soon as practical and preferably by the end of this year so that only customers who need to continue to use ICB die until they have qualified ICN8 or TSMC die are depleting the ICB die bank after the fab shuts down and we have switched over to ICN8 or TSMC die. The /G part number Order Acceptance Indicator (OAI) will be changed to 'no' when the ICB die bank is depleted or earlier if needed to conserve ICB die bank for strategic customers. We will evaluate issuing a new /G part number if there is not an existing /G part number available for strategic accounts that need to continue to receive ICB die until they complete the qualification.

We have grouped like-mask-set devices by shipping volumes so that we transfer the highest volume devices first to minimize the ICB die bank build. Based on dedicated Product/Test Engineering transfer resources, we have scheduled the qualification date and then calculated the amount of ICB die bank that will be needed to cut over from ICB to ICN8 or TSMC die 6 months after qualification based on existing run rates/anticipated ramp up/downs. A period of six months from qualification to logistics cut over was picked to allow 3 months for new wafer lot start outs from ICN8/TSMC and a 3-month safety factor. Each month, we will re-evaluate the ICB die bank and depletion rates and reschedule device transfer qualification dates as needed to ensure that the most critical devices are transferred first. The escalation path will be to use additional product Product/Test Engineering resources to pull in the transfer qualification schedule dates, pull in the logistics cut over date, and do risk wafer lot starts prior to the qualification date to pull in the wafer lot out dates.

• Contact I2C.Support@NXP.com