Important Notice: Parallax is now the exclusive SX supplier
Ken Gracey
Posts: 7,401
Dear Parallax Customers:
We·announce today that·Parallax is taking full control over the·SX·chip's·production process, including packaging, test/qualification and support functions.·Ubicom will no longer be a source of SX chips after November 30th. Parallax will manage the line·from the purchase of processed wafers from Ubicom.
Today marks the beginning of this·seamless transition. I have provided some details below.
Parallax SX Part Numbers Do Not Change
Parallax SX part numbers will stay the same: Parallax SX Stock Levels Will Increase
Parallax SX Stock Levels will increase. Our current SX in-stock quantities at updated on our web site at www.parallax.com/sx. Our new inventory goal is to provide on-demand delivery with no lead time for the production-quantity SXs (SX28AC/SS, for example) in 50-75K units. Quantities beyond these levels may have a 10-week lead time. Parallax has already placed orders for·processed wafers and·approximately·100K SX·chips. Our·increased inventory levels will be reached by October.·We anticipate no·shortage in the SX supply.
Label and Packaging
Parallax will change the SX chip label on all packages to reflect the new name “Parallax SX”. These changes will take effect in our inventory by December 2005. Some SX packages may have slightly different dimensions of plastic housing, though the pinout and pad·dimensions will not change. For example, a package could be·one tenth of a millimeter taller or shorter.·We are very considerate of existing manufacturing processes and will not be introducing a package style which is incompatible with current designs. This forum and the new datasheets will show these changes, if there are any. There is no change to the SX silicon.
Current packaging:
Example of packaging after December 2005:
RoHS (lead-free) Availability
All SX chip packages·will be available in RoHS-Compliant Packaging, as well as the current leaded packaging. Parallax is continuing the Ubicom qualification program to comply with the European Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) regulations. Our qualification process will be completed by December 2005, with RoHS-compliant chips being available by January 2006.·The RoHS-compliant SX chips will have a "U" at the end of the part number.·The conversion towards lead-free is consistent with·Parallax's lead-free policy.
New SX Datasheets to be Published
New Parallax SX SX datasheets·will be issued In December 2005. Some changes to the datasheet will include the addition of previously undocumented instructions, programming protocol for production program houses, an explanation of the SX/B compiler and available programming tools, and the addition of RoHS-compliant chemical information.
Future SX Support Plans
Future SX support will continue to increase. Parallax has actively supported the SX chip since 1997 and will continue to improve this level of support with the following:
SX products may continue to be purchased through our web site (www.parallax.com/sx), by purchase order or telephone (888) 512-1024,·or through our authorized distributors. Parallax will incorporate Ubicom distributors into our business as appropriate.
SX production customers may request the official Ubicom·letter announcement by sending me an e-mail (kgracey@parallax.com). The Ubicom notice announces their obsoleting of support for the SX, the transition to Parallax,·and·provides customers/distributors with the·opportunity to make a final Ubicom purchase.
Should you have any questions or concern please feel free to contact me at Parallax or post them in this forum if they may be of interest to other SX customers. We are pleased to fill this need for our customers and Ubicom.·
Sincerely,
Ken Gracey
Parallax, Inc.
Post Edited (Ken Gracey (Parallax)) : 8/26/2005 10:48:26 PM GMT
We·announce today that·Parallax is taking full control over the·SX·chip's·production process, including packaging, test/qualification and support functions.·Ubicom will no longer be a source of SX chips after November 30th. Parallax will manage the line·from the purchase of processed wafers from Ubicom.
Today marks the beginning of this·seamless transition. I have provided some details below.
Parallax SX Part Numbers Do Not Change
Parallax SX part numbers will stay the same: Parallax SX Stock Levels Will Increase
Parallax SX Stock Levels will increase. Our current SX in-stock quantities at updated on our web site at www.parallax.com/sx. Our new inventory goal is to provide on-demand delivery with no lead time for the production-quantity SXs (SX28AC/SS, for example) in 50-75K units. Quantities beyond these levels may have a 10-week lead time. Parallax has already placed orders for·processed wafers and·approximately·100K SX·chips. Our·increased inventory levels will be reached by October.·We anticipate no·shortage in the SX supply.
Label and Packaging
Parallax will change the SX chip label on all packages to reflect the new name “Parallax SX”. These changes will take effect in our inventory by December 2005. Some SX packages may have slightly different dimensions of plastic housing, though the pinout and pad·dimensions will not change. For example, a package could be·one tenth of a millimeter taller or shorter.·We are very considerate of existing manufacturing processes and will not be introducing a package style which is incompatible with current designs. This forum and the new datasheets will show these changes, if there are any. There is no change to the SX silicon.
Current packaging:
Example of packaging after December 2005:
RoHS (lead-free) Availability
All SX chip packages·will be available in RoHS-Compliant Packaging, as well as the current leaded packaging. Parallax is continuing the Ubicom qualification program to comply with the European Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) regulations. Our qualification process will be completed by December 2005, with RoHS-compliant chips being available by January 2006.·The RoHS-compliant SX chips will have a "U" at the end of the part number.·The conversion towards lead-free is consistent with·Parallax's lead-free policy.
New SX Datasheets to be Published
New Parallax SX SX datasheets·will be issued In December 2005. Some changes to the datasheet will include the addition of previously undocumented instructions, programming protocol for production program houses, an explanation of the SX/B compiler and available programming tools, and the addition of RoHS-compliant chemical information.
Future SX Support Plans
Future SX support will continue to increase. Parallax has actively supported the SX chip since 1997 and will continue to improve this level of support with the following:
- SX discussion forums (http://forums.parallax.com) with a professional and highly active support community
- Low-cost development tools (prototype boards, SX-Key tools, free SX/B BASIC compiler)
- 2006 SX Design Contest with more prize money
- Improved and expanded educational material
- RoHS-compliant SX chips
SX products may continue to be purchased through our web site (www.parallax.com/sx), by purchase order or telephone (888) 512-1024,·or through our authorized distributors. Parallax will incorporate Ubicom distributors into our business as appropriate.
SX production customers may request the official Ubicom·letter announcement by sending me an e-mail (kgracey@parallax.com). The Ubicom notice announces their obsoleting of support for the SX, the transition to Parallax,·and·provides customers/distributors with the·opportunity to make a final Ubicom purchase.
Should you have any questions or concern please feel free to contact me at Parallax or post them in this forum if they may be of interest to other SX customers. We are pleased to fill this need for our customers and Ubicom.·
Sincerely,
Ken Gracey
Parallax, Inc.
Post Edited (Ken Gracey (Parallax)) : 8/26/2005 10:48:26 PM GMT
Comments
IMO, this is the most important announcement ever posted in this Forum.
Congratulations!!!
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Greetings from Germany,
G
Ubicom never really had much/any support for the SX and that always worried me a bit. But now I can sleep better at night knowing that Parallax is in control.
Ken, any new packages planned ? I'd love to see a 8 or 14 pin DIP.
Bean.
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"SX-Video·Module" Now available from Parallax for only $28.95
http://www.parallax.com/detail.asp?product_id=30012
Product web site: www.sxvm.com
"One experiment is worth a thousand theories"
·
Talk about taking the horse by the reins. Good on you.
Everyone is better off with this news.
I wish you the best with your new SX business model.
Curious about this bit:
"Parallax will manage the line from the purchase of processed wafers from Ubicom"
Does that mean you will buy the wavers, cut them and make the SX package?
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- - - PLJack - - -
Perfection in design is not achieved when there is nothing left to add.
It is achieved when there is nothing left to take away.
Post Edited (PLJack) : 8/28/2005 4:04:34 AM GMT
Please revive the SX18AC/DP, and lower the chip prices.
Will Parallax be working on designing new SX Chips soon?
William
I'll answer your questions. First, Jack asked about what we'll actually be doing. Parallax isn't set up to do wafer cutting, grinding and packaging in our Rocklin office. We can do other tasks in Rocklin, such as focused ion beam cut/jump on the surface of a die and e-beam probing (a non-contact oscilloscope). These processes are not useful or necessary for the SX, though.
The SX silicon is mature and it is not changing. We will buy packaged wafers from Ubicom's foundry and they will be shipped to our packaging and testing company in Taiwan. From there, the wafers are ground, cut, packaged and tested and delivered to Parallax.
William, it is our goal to lower prices. Our new arrangement with Ubicom should enable this, but I really don't have the exact costs yet to make such conclusions. Bringing back the SX18AC/DP is possible, too, though it's not in our first round of plans. At the moment we're very busy arranging purchase orders, packaging, QA/QC, documentation revision, RoHS issues for the existing chip packages. Lower pin-count devices are a possibility.
But whatever we do, there will be no change to the SX silicon. The engineering on this chip is sealed for life and the fabrication process is producing high yield, reliable results.
If you have any other questions please ask them.
Sincerely,
Ken Gracey
Parallax, Inc.
Bean,
c'mon - an 8-pin DIP SX package would be very "minimalistic"
These are the 5 "must be" pins:
Vdd, Vss, /MCLR, OSC1, OSC2.
Leaving either one pin for RTCC in, and two for port bits, or no RTCC in, and tree for port bits. I would vote for three RB port bits, as I never had a need for the RTCC input so far, and because port B is the most flexible one.
Well, we all should settle down a bit - Parallax can now package the SX wafers into whatever "boxes" they want - but the silicon inside will remain the same as before. So no fancy re-configurable multi-function pins available like on some PIC controllers - "just" a straight forward structure instead, like before, as we all like it (at least I do so).
Nevertheless, I agree with you, an "SX14AC" would be a fine device for small, non-SMT projects. I would prefer to see pins Vdd. Vss, OSC1, OSC2, /MCLR, RTCC, and RB7...0 on such a device.
Fine, these are all nice dreams. I agree with Ken that Parallax will be quite busy in the near future, getting all the current SX packages into the loop. IMO, this is most important: The SXes finally have found the best supplier we can think of, so they are going to have a long-lasting future with outstanding support, and this is what counts at first place.
Let's discuss all the rest when Parallax has finally "established" on this new target.
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Greetings from Germany,
G
·· That question has been asked before in this thread:
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?p=545036
·· The general attitude from forum members was many didn't want to see that happen.· The thread kind of died off after that.
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Chris Savage
Parallax Tech Support
csavage@parallax.com
I was thinking /MCLR could be tied high inside the package. That would give 4 I/O pins. But as you pointed out that would be very mimimalistic.
What I'd really like to see is the SX48/52 die in a DIP package. The SX48/52 has twice the RAM and twice the program memory, not to mention the other features.
Unless your connecting to a parallal RAM chip, I rarely see a need for 40 I/O pins.
I realize this is all just "pie-in-the-sky" as it will take Parallax awhile just to get "up to speed" with the existing packages.
Bean.
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"SX-Video·Module" Now available from Parallax for only $28.95
http://www.parallax.com/detail.asp?product_id=30012
Product web site: www.sxvm.com
"One experiment is worth a thousand theories"
Post Edited (Bean (Hitt Consulting)) : 8/29/2005 4:59:26 PM GMT
Will we see new chip with writable flash memory at run time ?
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Ibsen
" It's nice to be important, but
·· more important to be nice... "
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Jon Williams
Applications Engineer, Parallax
Of course, I thought you guys WERE the only supplier....
When I think of SX, I think of Parallax....*cough* cough * free samples * cough * cough *
lol
cbmeeks
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http://metroidclassic.com
=========
DMCA Sucks
RIAA Sucks
yes, you are right - /MCLR could be tied to Vdd internally, although I sometimes have needed it in systems with slow raising power supplys.
I absolutely agree with you - it would be really attractive having an "SX48/28AC", the "large" die in a DIP28 package. Same number of I/O pins but twice the RAM and twice the program memory plus two 16-bit multi-purpose counter/timers. Imagine - this would allow you to "boost-up" existing hardware by just replacing the "old" SX28AC with the new pin-compatible "Power SX28". Some of my "commercial" SX28-based applications come close to the SX28's memory limits, and customers always want more, so I'd "love" the SX28/48AC". I'll put it on my wish list I'm going to send Parallax for next Christmas
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Greetings from Germany,
G
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Jon Williams
Applications Engineer, Parallax
I like it a lot !!!
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Ibsen
" It's nice to be important, but
·· more important to be nice... "
The SX takeover indeed explains the SX48/52 protoboard: It gets even the thick-fingered (like me) finally started with the SX52 (which probably sells less well than it deserves, due to the barrier of dealing with the package in a prototype setting), at such a lower NRE cost than a new DIP48 package that it's a better choice for Parallax even at the $10 price. Right?
-Even so, the SX28BD/DP would seem to be the obvious next step.
-Restarting the SX18/DP is probably a good idea, too (once you sell a bit more of the old stock...). I just came up with a project that would use up SX chips 4 at a time (limited by speed, only 1 8-bit port per device is used most of the time, and for the remainder 4 pins are enough for slow communications), and probably need 2 or 3 sets of 4 to start to be useful. If I build it, the SX18AC will of course be the natural choice due to the price. If there was an SX18BD (i.e. SX52 silicon), that would be a better choice.
Post Edited (Benedikt Rochow) : 9/2/2005 9:02:35 PM GMT