Date: Sun, 31 Jan 1999 00:53:53 -0000 (GMT) From: Duncan Barclay <dmlb@ragnet.demon.co.uk> To: Terry Lambert <tlambert@primenet.com> Cc: patl@phoenix.volant.org, chat@FreeBSD.ORG, (Kevin Day) <toasty@home.dragondata.com> Subject: Re: USB drivers Message-ID: <XFMail.990131005353.dmlb@computer.my.domain> In-Reply-To: <199901302333.QAA24304@usr04.primenet.com>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
Moved to chat.
On 30-Jan-99 Terry Lambert wrote:
>> The cost for running two production lines, extra fabs, and just the overhead
>> of having more than one SKU isn't worth it for most manufacturers.
>
> Going to FAB on an ASIC is ~$30k; if you intend any volume at all,
> then you can afford an ASIC very easily.
Terry 30k is not the cost of an ASIC. Sure the fab may charge you that
but consider:
NRE on design 100k (design and layout costs)
Wait 2 months
A re-spin 50k
Wait 2 months
So we have to have maybe four months from tape-out to product
pre-production, not good in a market with 6 month product life.
Then, because you are not a volume customer the fab die costs will be
higher than that which chipset suppliers get. In this business "volume"
means millions of parts/year. Other segments are different.
An ASIC development nowadays should only be done to gain functionality
that doesn't exist elsewhere or aggressive cost reduction.
Some realistic options for smaller volumes are special packages, buy the
die at cost and put them in smaller packages.
But then we get the board manufacture:
>> It also would cost us more to get a motherboard without them stuffing the
>> USB port connector on it. The connector costs like $.15, but the costs for
>> making a different run, different model number, etc, far exceed that, unless
>> you're buying hundreds of thousands.
>
> Right; if that's all you were diking out...
Yeah, NRE, re-spins (I've never seen any board not need at least one),
inventory control, setting up a line, FCC/UL/EEC testing : it's all
hassle. For PC motherboards you go with the flow. Other segments of
the electronics industry are different, it's a viable proposition to
do it yourself.
Labour in the Far East is very cheap but getting access to it is hard
if you don't own a factory. A couple of examples to bring this into
perspective:
PC - Have a look at the shell ends of serial/parallel connectors
bundled in mother boards. These are hand soldered because it is
cheaper to do that than use IDC connectors on a production line.
Hair curling tongs - My wife bought an electrically heated
curling tong for UKP2.95, complete with electrical cable and
plug, from a high street store. Made in China and by hand.
Considering that there is probably 200% markup
manufacturing cost (part and labour) was about $1.
>> So.. In some cases, if all you want is an ISA/PCI bridge, you're
>> better off buying an ISA/PCI bridge that also has IDE, Floppy,
>> Serial, Parallel, USB, and a bunch of other stuff, because everyone
>> wants those features, so you can sneak in and buy a chip with high
>> volume because it's cheap.
>
> Right, but if you're looking at no PCI, no ISA, just USB, you could
> easily use one of the chips they use in mice cameras, or whatever,
> with a tiny amount of glue. It shouldn't even take an ASIC at all
> to make it go.
But a PCI to USB bridge was needed, so PCI is required.
> Terry Lambert
> terry@lambert.org
Duncan
---
________________________________________________________________________
Duncan Barclay | God smiles upon the little children,
dmlb@ragnet.demon.co.uk | the alcoholics, and the permanently stoned.
________________________________________________________________________
To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org
with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?XFMail.990131005353.dmlb>