Second source

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

Second source

In the electronics

Electronics

Electronics refers to the flow of charge through nonmetal electrical conductor , whereas electrical refers to the flow of charge through metal electrical conductor....
industry, a second source is a company that is licensed to manufacture and sell components originally designed by another company (the first source).

It used to be common for purchasers to avoid components that were only available from a single source. For simple components such as resistors and transistors, this was not usually a problem, but for complex integrated circuit

Integrated circuit

Discussion

Ask a question about 'Second source'

Start a new discussion about 'Second source'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Encyclopedia

In the electronics

Electronics

Integrated circuit

In electronics, an integrated circuit is a miniaturized electronic circuit that has been manufactured in the surface of a thin Wafer of semiconductor material....
s, vendors often reacted by licensing one or more other companies to manufacture and sell the same parts as second sources. While the details of such licenses are usually confidential, they often involved cross-licensing, so that the original company also obtained the right to manufacture and sell parts designed by the second source.

Examples

MOS Technology

MOS Technology, Inc., also known as CSG , was a integrated circuit design and Semiconductor device fabrication company based in Norristown, Pennsylvania, in the United States....
licensed Rockwell

Rockwell

Rockwell can refer to:...
and Synertek

Synertek

Synertek, Inc. was an United States semiconductor manufacturer founded in 1973. The initial founding group consisted of Bob Schreiner , Dan Floyd, Zvi Grinfas, Jack Baletto, and Gunnar Wetlesen....
to second source the 6502

MOS Technology 6502

The MOS Technology 6502 is an 8-bit microprocessor that was designed by Chuck Peddle and Bill Mensch for MOS Technology in 1975. When it was introduced, it was the least expensive full-featured central processing unit on the market by a considerable margin, costing less than one-sixth the price of competing designs from larger companies such...
microprocessor and support components.

Intel licensed AMD to second source Intel microprocessors such as the 8086

Intel 8086

The 8086 is a 16-bit microprocessor chip designed by Intel and introduced on the market in 1978, which gave rise to the x86 architecture. Intel 8088, released in 1979, was essentially the same chip, but with an external 8-bit bus , and is notable as the processor used in the original IBM PC....
and its related support components. This second source agreement is particularly famous for leading to much litigation between the two parties. The agreement gave AMD the rights to second source later Intel parts, but Intel refused to provide the masks for the 386

Intel 80386

The Intel 80386, otherwise known as the i386 or just 386, is a microprocessor which has been used as the central processing unit of many personal computers and workstations since 1986....
to AMD. AMD reverse engineered the 386, and Intel then claimed that AMD's license to the 386 microcode

Microcode

Microcode is a layer of lowest-level instructions involved in the implementation of machine code instructions in many computers and other processors; it resides in a special high-speed memory and translates machine instructions into sequences of detailed circuit-level operations....
only allowed AMD to "use" the microcode but not to sell products incorporating it. The courts eventually decided in favor of AMD.