That counterfeit products are finding a way into society, from
medicines to auto parts, designer bags to videos, and yes, throughout
the electronics supply chain, is commonplace news of late. We’ve seen
the statistics and heard the horror stories: Equipment that performs
below par, or fails altogether; tainted or nonfunctioning drugs.
Counterfeiting can put personal health and safety at risk, not to
mention the hurt it can put on company revenues, which can then trickle
down to our job security.
For a sense of the scope
of the problem, last November and December alone, over 350,000
counterfeit ICs were stopped at U.S./EU borders. One estimate put the
loss in revenue to semiconductor manufacturers in the hundreds of
millions of dollars per year. In most cases counterfeit simply fool the
buyer. But in some cases, the intent is more menacing, and the
counterfeiting actions are purposefully engineered to do harm.
The
response may have been slow at first, but it’s gathering steam. Late in
2007, the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) fashioned an
anti-counterfeiting trade agreement designed to stem the flow of fake
products into consumer electronics. Participants include the U.S,
Canada, the EU, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand and Switzerland. A task
force is now working on measures to stop counterfeiting including ways
to encrypt chip packages to prevent remarking.
The
buyer most likely to be intentionally impacted by sinister counterfeit
electronics is the military. In March, in a follow-up to a 2005 report
to Congress by the National Research Council (NRC), the Defense
Department took action to develop a long-range strategy to address the
need for trusted components. A task force comprised of military
agencies, the National Security Agency and the State Department
recommended the DoD implement a program to ensure a trusted source for
all electronic components, from the IC to the PCB. This is a change for
the DoD because previously, PCBs were not considered a critical
component in military hardware.
There has been a
program in place for ICs, called the Defense Trusted Integrated Circuit
Strategy (DTICS). The DTICS looks to trusted suppliers to lessen the
risk of IP loss, counterfeiting, poor quality or loss of supply. One
upcoming action for the DoD is to extend the DTICS program to cover
PCBs. Another includes modifications to MIL-PRF-31032 to include a
definition of trust requirements. In both programs, suppliers will need
to apply for trust accreditation to supply PCBs for secure defense
systems. These actions will help reduce risks posed by tampering or
counterfeiting of PCBs, according to the DoD.
One of
the key actions the DoD will take is to ensure the military has access
to current printed circuit board technology. The mechanism suggested by
the NRC to accomplish this task was to “establish a competing network
of shops that can be trusted to manufacture PCBs for secure defense
systems.” The NRC report went on to specify that these shops be
globally competitive to ensure technology competency and that the DoD
buy sufficient quantities of PCBs annually to create the critical mass
needed to sustain the “trusted manufacturing base.”
A
secondary benefit of the status for the PCB is an increased awareness
by military and government of its importance within an electronics
system. With the NRC report and subsequent DoD implementation, the PCB
has migrated from commodity to critical in terms of military purchases.
In acting on the NRC report recommendations, the DoD will need to
“foster new PCB design and manufacturing technology.” This means we can
expect continued support for joint government/industry programs through
DARPA and the Focus Center Research Programs that fund technology
advancement in the area of electronics. The funding, a fraction of what
is really needed to keep pace with technology demands, serves as at
least minor recognition that the PCB is fundamental to the success of
electronic devices we have all come to rely on. Read the DoD report in
full at pcdandf.com/cms/DoD_mar08_report.
Join us at PCB
East on May 11-16 in Tinley Park, IL, for a weeklong conference and
two-day exhibition. We have lots of new courses to boost your PCB
design and fab knowledge and expertise (pcbeast.com/conf). Back by
popular demand, “FREE Tuesday” will kick off with the “Next Generation
EDA Tools” panel session that includes presentations by leading EDA
tools suppliers. Keynoter Emad Isaac of The Morey Corp. will focus on
how to share information up and down the chain, with an end-goal of
improved design layout and manufacturability. And that evening, meet
authors like Charles Pfeil and Clyde Coombs at a book signing as part
of a hosted networking opportunity. See you there!
