chips

Semiconductors developed in collaboration with and for the benefit of customers

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Content

5 welcome

7 An attractive partnership

9 From the original ideas to the EBVchips

11 EBVchips: even small quantities are possible

13 A classic win-win-win situation

15 What? When? How long?

17 upgrading and downsizing

19 Designed in Europe, made in Asia: no problem!

21 Long-term availability

23 Distribution is today. Tomorrow is EBV!


EBV Elektronik is breaking new ground by expanding
into areas that were once the exclusive domain of
semiconductor manufacturers.
Dear customers,
True to our new slogan ‘Distribution is today. Tomor-
row is EBV’, EBV Elektronik is taking yet another giant
step forward: In addition to its role as a well-proven
distributor of semiconductors for its manufacturing
partners, EBV will from 2010 onwards also define its
own semiconductors, which will then be produced by
the manufacturers and distributed exclusively by EBV.
For the first time in the history of the semiconductor
industry, one distributor is now providing even small
and medium-sized companies with access to specially
customised products featuring state-of-the-art technol-
ogy with the best price/performance ratio.
With EBVchips, we now represent the interface between
many thousands of customers and the manufacturer.
This takes semiconductor distribution to a whole new
level. 2009 was the ‘Darwin year’ of the semiconductor
industry. Anyone who carries on as before and fails to
reach the next evolutionary stage with the products and
services they offer will find things very difficult in the
long run.
When it comes to sales and product development,
semiconductor manufacturers work very closely with
their major, direct customers. By contrast, contact with
small and medium-sized companies was, until recently,
maintained exclusively at the distribution level. EBV,
however, is now extending this indirect relationship to
the product marketing and definition level.
It is not the strategy of the manufacturers to deal with
the many thousands of individual customers who
receive the support from the distribution team; nei-
ther can the manufacturers afford to do this from an
organisational point of view. In addition, customers in
the medium-sized enterprise sector cannot generally
achieve by themselves the quantities required to have
customised products manufactured. This is where EBV
comes into play.
Discuss your product ideas with your local EBV partner.
We appreciate your suggestions and look forward to
developing new products together!
Yours sincerely,
Slobodan Puljarevic,
President and CEO of EBV Elektronik
An Attractive Partnership
EBV Elektronik focuses on customers from vertical sales
segments, for example, companies that manufacture
wind turbines, vendor parts for vehicles, solar panels
or blood sugar meters. For this reason, EBV has formed
specialist sales teams to provide dedicated support
for customers in the vertical segments – Automotive,
Consumer, General Lighting, Medical, Renewable
Energies and RFID. With the introduction of vertical
sales segments, EBV formed the basis for EBVchips. It
now provides support for these segments throughout
Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and uses
them to obtain key data and product requirements for
EBVchips.

It goes without saying, however, that all customers have

access to EBVchips! EBV is always open to great ideas
about products, regardless of the application or market.
With regard to the various related conditions, EBV is
also happy to make concessions for customers who
play a key role in defining a new chip.

EBVchips are produced by our manufacturers. They

bear an original component number assigned by the
manufacturer and are also stamped with the manufac-
turer’s logo. EBV will then hold exclusive distribution
rights for the component for between three to five
years, a period typical for this particular industry.

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 Once a decision has been made to produce an EBVchip,
the VSMEs (Vertical Segment Manager for the EMEA
region) draw up the specifications for the semiconduc-
tor. These are then submitted to the manufacturer by
EBV to clarify whether or not the semiconductor can
actually be designed and produced. The manufacturer
then proceeds to design the chip in accordance with the
standard design process.

The marketing and sales employees at EBV may all be

engineers, but there is more to efficient chip design
than simply drawing up the specifications. This is why
EBV employs experts who act as ‘translators’, that is,
they translate the product marketing specifications into
a language that chip designers can understand.

From the Original Ideas to the EBVchips Even during this early ‘translation’ process, EBV takes
into account the specific strengths of the individual
technologies and manufacturers and defines what
is best suited to which application. If more than one

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manufacturer is able to develop and manufacture the
product in question, EBV will consider all potential
manufacturers in order to achieve the best solution for
the customers.

In around 90% of cases, however, EBV already knows

which manufacturer would be most suitable because of
the very good understanding that it has, not only of its
manufacturers’ product ranges, but also of their technol-
ogy portfolios. As a result, EBV customers always have
access to the technology that best meets their needs.

The manufacturer is responsible for ensuring compli-

ance with specifications. As is the case with all semicon-
ductors in the range, EBV will act solely as a distribution
channel for these new, application-specific semicon-
ductors. Therefore, issues such as liability, warranty,
qualification and long-term availability are also the
responsibility of the manufacturers themselves.
 The minimum quantities of EBVchips also vary de-
pending on the application and type of semiconductor.
Microcontrollers, for example, generally require several
million EBVchips. By contrast, power modules for wind
turbines, for example, may only require between 20,000
and 30,000 EBVchips. As far as manufacturers are
concerned, minimum quantities depend on factors such
as the application, chip size, housing and price. EBV,
however, is happy to supply its customers with small
quantities if required.

EBVchips: Even Small Quantities are Possible

Access to State-of-the-Art Technology – Even for Small Consumers

The major direct customers – the key accounts of the

manufacturers – have always had access to state-of-the-
art technology and discuss ideas for products directly
with the manufacturers.

Until now, however, this has not been possible for medi-
um-sized companies. With EBVchips, EBV is bundling its
strengths to provide even small customers with access
to brand-new specifications and customised solutions
with a more attractive price/performance ratio. As such,
EBV now represents the interface between many thou-
sands of customers and the manufacturer and is taking
semiconductor distribution to a whole new level.
 A Classic Win-Win-Win Situation
The concept of EBVchips is highly attractive not only to
customers but also to semiconductor manufacturers.

For years they have been waiting, indirectly, for the op-
portunity to obtain consolidated and detailed informa-
tion about exactly what it is that the many thousands of
customers who transact their purchases via distribution
need. This is why all the manufacturers surveyed by
EBV are extremely enthusiastic about the idea of EBV-
chips and want to support the initiative.

EBV Through and Through

EBV is the intellectual property owner of EBVchips.
Non-disclosure agreements have been concluded with
potential manufacturers of EBVchips to ensure that
ideas remain protected.

Once legal issues have been clarified, the expert teams

concentrate fully on the process of defining and design-
ing the EBVchips. Depending on the manufacturer, the
opportunity is always available to integrate not only the
manufacturer’s IP blocks but also suitable third-party IPs.

The Next Step

With its extremely broad line card, EBV covers a huge
product and technology portfolio. EBV also wants to

A Classic Win-Win-Win Situation leverage this enormous potential beyond just manufac-
turers. For example, it is currently planning, with the
consent of all involved, to consolidate the technology
developed by different manufacturers.

These chips will initially be combined in a hybrid,

although integration will soon take place in a multi-chip
module as well.
 What? When? How long?

What? When? How Long? EBV will soon be launching the first EBVchips, although
everyone is still very much in the learning phase. After
all, this is uncharted territory that is being entered; no
distributor has ever done anything like this before. The
aim now, in practice, is to find out the following infor-
mation: How long is the manufacturer’s design phase?
How long does the manufacturer need for testing, qua-
lification and so on? How long before engineering sam-
ples are ready? When will the first orders be received?

Under normal conditions at the manufacturing plant, it

will take approximately nine months from completion of
the specifications to completion of the first set of chips:
three months for design, three months for manufac-
turing the first wafers and another three months for
assembling, testing and packaging.

Once the production processes have been established,

EBV will then start integrating chips from different man-

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ufacturers for joint processing. EBV already has access
to partners who are able to integrate different chips to
form a hybrid.

The First EBVchips

The first EBVchips will be extremely solid and fairly
straightforward semiconductors. The biggest potential
for these will be in analogue and mixed-signal products.
Specifically, EBV is planning to offer EBVchips for power
modules for applications such as wind turbines. EBV
will be particularly active in the area of power semicon-
ductors, which are used in applications for renewable
energies. ‘Metering’ will also be another potential appli-
cation in this area.

EBV already has ideas, however, for EBVchips in all the

other market segments as well.
 In the area of consumer electronics, EBV is pursuing a
slightly different approach. Manufacturers currently of-
fer special controllers, for example, that feature a range
of peripheral elements. But because consumer custom-
ers do not necessarily need all these peripheral ele-
ments, the corresponding chips are too big and, in turn,
too expensive for such applications. For this reason, we
are planning to downsize certain ICs to create smaller
components in more compact packages and with fewer
pins, which will ensure that these ICs are of better value
than the original IC. In this way, the EBVchips can be ad-

Upgrading and Downsizing

justed precisely in line with the required price point. As
a result, we are focusing our efforts on both high-level
and low-level integration.

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 Designed in Europe, Made in Asia: No Problem!
Although very few consumer devices are actually
produced in Europe, many are designed here – and not
‘only’ end products such as TVs and set-top boxes. With
EBVchips, you can also ultimately be sure that EBV not

Designed in Europe, Made in Asia: No Problem! only provides support during the design-in phase, but
can also deliver the required production quantities.

After all, EBVchips are available exclusively from EBV

and, thanks to its parent company Avnet, EBV also op-
erates a global delivery network.

Tools, Evaluation Boards and Reference Platforms for

EBVchips
In many cases, EBVchip customers can use existing
development tools. However, if the EBVchip is a control-
ler or similar product that requires special software, for
example, EBV can also provide the relevant support.
If necessary, EBV can also then collaborate with the
manufacturer and other partners to create an evaluation
board or even a reference platform.

Analogue products do not generally require this kind of

support.
 For many customers in Europe, the availability of semi-
conductors over a long period is a basic requirement for
the design-in. In the automotive industry, for example,
suppliers have to be able to deliver their products for at
least ten years. In addition to the actual specifications,
therefore, long-term availability is often one of the most
important properties of semiconductors and, in turn,
EBVchips as well.

If a manufacturer or product area is taken over or sold,

or a particular technology is discontinued, a final order
can be placed as part of a ‘last call’. Since EBV owns the
intellectual property of the specifications, however, it
can arrange to have the component produced by a dif-

Long-Term Availability
ferent manufacturer at any time. If necessary, EBV could
also take the existing masks to a foundry. With EBV-
chips, therefore, customers are always on the safe side.

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The idea behind EBVchips is new and unique, but all
good ideas will be copied at some point. However,
the copy will never be as good as the original. Since
our founding in 1969, we have constantly redefined
distribution strategies: from FAEs and services such
as laser-marking and programming as well as state-of-
the-art logistics solutions through to intensive design
support with reference platforms developed by EBV
itself. The fundamental idea behind EBVchips will one
day be copied by other companies, but you can be sure
that, as usual, EBV will be thinking of new ideas. Future
concepts are already being planned, so be prepared for
more surprises!

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EBV EUROPEAN HEADQUARTERS

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