Huge savnings for all, collaborative ASIC

How do you even the demand across the different designs? If one guy ends up wanting a bunch of chips because of unexpected demand for the improved product and other participants order no chips because they don't need so many or they didn't work???

That's what collaborative is about. If a bunch of people all think that they can sell a particular chip, some of them are going to be right, and if the group is big enough one of them may sell enough to carry everybody else.

The classic model of chip development had one large scale manufacturer talking to a semiconductor company and buying a whole production batch, and the semiconductor company finding enough other customers to make more batches.

The approach suggested gets the other customers in earlier.

Who is going to do the design? That NRE has to go to a person who is going to get it right the first time.....which is unlikely unless you have the in frastructure of a big company that you are trying to beat. I would not be l ooking for here to make your dreams come true.

I think mixed-signal OTP chips like these Dialog "GreenPAK" arrays are going to make a number of the proposed applications hard to justify except in truly enormous quantity. The configuration software is easy and fun to use, drag-n-drop more or less.

Some IC houses make very good designs, and are quite affordable. For example: 3Peak, purchase from LCSC. TP09 dual 6MHz opamp, 400uV Vos, 6 cents, quad 10 cents.

I think a more reasonable goal for a "collaborative project" for the group if that's what someone want to do would be to come up with mixed-signal "programs" ready-to-run that could be used for some purposes which are needed but aren't available at reasonable cost or have problematic implementations.

I can't think of a reason off the top of my head why there'd need to be a bespoke SED buck converter controller design that could be loaded into chips in quantities of thousands instead of 100ks or if that would be any cheaper than some other option but who knows.

I just got some of these by courier, 3 days from Shenzen to the likely much more Third World-looking DHL service point in Pawtucket, RI.

A small warehouse by the train tracks with three tractor-trailer bays, and two dented yellow trucks compose the DHL infrastructure for all of Rhode Island I think.

You are lucky. I am still waiting for some stuffs i ordered a month ago.

Unfortunately having worked sales at some Internet retailers many years back I came to understand that "in stock" is often bullshit, like what didn't we have "in stock."

max output swing 5/15mV. Kinda low for an opamp.

That's why you order from LCSC and specify DHL.

That means within 5mV of the rails, 15mV worst case. And no more than 1V at 50mA loads, not bad at all.

commodity chips

chips at only production cost, maybe half price of normal purchase price

l at premium prices

up wanting a bunch of chips because of unexpected demand for the improved product and other participants order no chips because they don't need so ma ny or they didn't work???

This is meant for serious firms, so ordering in the 100k+ quantity. So the idea would be to make a deal with the biggest non-competing firms. If the N RE is 300k USD for a relatively complex design, then it would be split even ly. You will then get the rights to buy the component at factory cost

If one company then quits, they have paid the NRE and that doesn't matter m uch since wafers are paid per lot, not annual volume

g to get it right the first time.....which is unlikely unless you have the infrastructure of a big company that you are trying to beat. I would not be looking for here to make your dreams come true.

The desing is done by consultanty firm specializing in ASICs (they get it r ight first time)

No need for big infrastructure, the wafer fab broker can handle the infrast ructure at a minimum overhead

ing to get it right the first time.....which is unlikely unless you have th e infrastructure of a big company that you are trying to beat. I would not be looking for here to make your dreams come true.

Some designs are so optimized from the manufactor side, or they have specia l process that I cannot get hold off, so in those parts it does not make se nse

For example for a fast opamp, it makes a lot of good sense. They sell it at high price, since they can

Yes, funny about LCSC. You wonder how it can be done that cheap. My guess is that the profit margins simply are high on western stuff, with all those FAEs running around etc

Maybe I did not come out clear, it was not meant for the SED users. It's for the big players

They can't ship since no planes are entering china and local post service is suspended also

Right, I don't know who "we" is. ;) Fab prices have come down somewhat tho, group-buys seem plausible at this point even for not-so-big players if the group is 30 or 40 people perhaps...maybe if not a full chip at least get someone to make a fast PNP again!

The volumes required to successfully vertically-integrate and beat the chip companies on things like regular op-amps and buck converter controllers would seem staggering.