Tekmos' Blog

Tekmos Approved as Vendor on X-FAB’s X-Chain Platform

Tekmos is pleased to announce that we are now an approved vendor on X-FAB’s X-Chain platform, expanding our visibility to companies seeking specialized semiconductor support and lifecycle solutions.

X-Chain is X-FAB’s digital ecosystem designed to connect customers with qualified partners based on technical capabilities, intellectual property, and service offerings. Through this platform, companies can search for vendors that align with specific semiconductor needs. From manufacturing support to long-term product sustainability.

As part of the X-Chain network, Tekmos is now discoverable to organizations looking for expertise in ASIC solutions, legacy device support, and end-of-life (EOL) component solutions. We work with customers to extend the life of critical components, provide continuity for discontinued devices, and develop tailored approaches for unique or aging technologies.

By joining the X-Chain platform, Tekmos is better positioned to collaborate with companies that require dependable semiconductor solutions, whether for sustaining existing products or addressing complex supply challenges.

Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) are an excellent choice for rapid development, prototyping, and low-volume production. But as products mature and volumes increase, many organizations reach a tipping point were continuing with an FPGA is no longer the most efficient or cost-effective option.

So how do you know when it’s time to make the move?

Below are 7 clear signs that your design may be ready for FPGA-to-ASIC conversion and how making the transition can improve performance, reduce costs, and ensure long-term supply.

1. Your Production Volumes Are Increasing

FPGAs are ideal for low-to-medium volumes, but their per-unit cost remains relatively high compared to ASICs. If your production volumes are scaling into the thousands (or more), an ASIC can significantly reduce unit cost over time.  

Do people love remote work? For most, including at Tekmos, they do, and it’s mainly the flexibility. Travel and commute are reduced including the cost of both. There is a reduction of distractions. The ability to travel and live anywhere, including outside of major cities offers workers the ability to be closer to family. A big plus is often an increase in productivity.

At Tekmos we use Microsoft Teams to share, communicate by division and as a company. While we use our company email to share across our divisions, and telephone calls, Microsoft Teams allows us to see, hear, share, and speak to one another as a group or one on one using cameras, microphones and headsets. Tekmos' communication skills have improved greatly which has increased cohesiveness among team members.

US Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed that 4.7 million people, which make about 3.4% of the US workforce, were already working remotely before the novel coronavirus took the world by storm. Regular work-at-home has grown 173% since 2005, 11% faster than the rest of the workforce (which grew 15%) and nearly 47x faster than the self-employed population (which grew by 4%) (Global Workplace Analytics’ analysis of 2018 ACS data).

What is the most important issue for remote working? Communication tops the list, with 27% of people mentioning it as their #1 challenge. Remote work makes it harder to read body language, hear what people are saying, ask follow up questions in the hallway, or quickly ask a coworker for clarification at their desk. Lacking social interaction and isolation are close behind. Again, Microsoft Teams offers the ability to see, hear and interact with coworkers.

Best Practices to thrive as a remote worker

Tekmos is thinking seriously about what we want our work paradigm to achieve because of this pandemic. We think we can architect and build systems that will allow us to meet our objectives of an engineering design firm and manufacturer of semiconductors, while maintaining clear and open communication, a key factor in running any company.

What do we need to ask ourselves as we look at the future? Our lease will be expiring the 2nd quarter of 2021. We have begun to make decisions about whether we stay in our current location. Where will we move if we do? Do we lease or buy? We have already learned we can save substantially in overhead by moving and creating a new model for Tekmos.

What is our overall vision of our ideal work system for Tekmos in the future? Many of our team have worked remote already due to the pandemic. Do we consider adapting a partial virtual model and how does all of this fit together?

Executives in traditional industries who spent days and weeks on the road are discovering that a well-managed Zoom meeting can be as effective as a face-to-face — and a lot easier (and less expensive) to organize. While the broad impacts of remote work have yet to be measured across industries and for extended lengths of time, initial studies have found that it can increase productivity and lower employee turnover. (Harvard Business Review)

The study, titled “From Immediate Responses to Planning for the Reimagined Workplace,” found that 77% of respondents expect that the number of employees working primarily from home (at least three days a week) will increase postpandemic.

Tekmos has had an increase in ASIC products required for military applications. Because of this we have had to incorporate military screening and qualification procedures.

Tekmos follows military screening outlined in Mil-STD-883: Test Method 5004.13. This screening consists of tests dedicated to inspect the design, wafer fabrication, and device assembly of a product and is performed on the entire Lot of parts. The tests include Nondestructive Bond Pulls, Temperature Cycling, Electrical Parameter Tests, and more. So far Tekmos has had a 100% success rate on military screening 5004.13.

Unlike the initial screen procedures, the military qualification procedures are outlined in Mil-STD-883: Test Method 5005.17 and only use a small portion of the Lot for testing. Many of the tests are considered destructive, which ultimately means the parts no longer are active for customer use and must be scrapped. Qualification involves 5 groups of testing; Group A: Electrical, Group B: Mechanical and Environmental, Group C: Life Tests, Group D: Package, Group E: RHA (if applicable).

Group A testing is done in-house once production parts arrive from the dedicated assembler. Tekmos begins screening by performing an initial electrical test to remove any assembly rejects from the Lot. After Initial test, parts are then placed in ovens for a burn-in cycle in accordance with TM 1015, for 160 hours at 125ºC. While the parts are under burn-in, Tekmos constantly monitors the current output of the parts to ensure their electrical stability. Once completed, the parts will run through a tri-temperature screening with the same initial test used pre-burn-in. The parts are tested at 125ºC, 25ºC, and -55ºC to make certain the product is meeting the device specifications.

For Groups B and D, Tekmos sends off parts to an approved test house. These parts, although tested off-site, are constantly being tracked through various communication channels for accurate completion estimates and potential issues needing to be resolved. Once all parts have completed, the test house will send reports and certificates of conformance for the testing performed. The reports are then reviewed by the Production Engineer, Zachary Kolb, and Director of Quality, Kelsey Casto.