Robustness validation

Robustness validation is a skills strategy with which the robustness of a product to the loading conditions of a real application is proven and targeted statements about risks and reliability can be made. This strategy is particularly for use in the automotive industry however could be applied to any industry where high levels of reliability are required

History

At the beginning of the 1970s a relatively high failure rates of electronic components were tolerable in automobiles, because they replaced mechanical components, which had a much higher failure rate. The underlying failure rates of bimetallic flashers were 10% per year and the lifetime of mechanical ignition contacts at 10,000 miles. With the increasing number of semiconductors in control unitss, and the introduction of the first safety systems ( ABS) in the 70s had to be addressed. Already in 1975, the General Specification for IC's in Automotive Applications as the first SAE Recommendation was issued, the 1978 SAE standard was declared and adopted by major semiconductor manufacturers.

The establishment of the Automotive Electronic Council ( AEC) 1994 by Ford, Chrysler, GM - Delco was also the Starting point for the AEC-Q100 qualification process , was based on the SAE standards.

Due to the development of automotive and the ever-increasing complexity of vehicles associated with the demands for lower error rates of this qualification process , this process to decide by nonspecific tests, to cover a wide range of possible failure mechanisms, but only on the functionality of the component is out of date. In order to make statements about the robustness AEC Q100 can be replaced robustness validation.

Initiators and participants

In April 2007, the Handbook for Robustness Validation of Semiconductor Devices in Automotive Applications with international cooperation from SAE, ZVEI, AEC and JSAE (Japanese Society of Automotive Engineers) was published, in which the guidelines for the contemporary validation of semiconductor components in the automotive applications were compiled. Companies were involved in this from the entire supply chain in the field of automotive electronics. In addition to vehicle manufacturers and suppliers, a large group of semiconductor manufacturers, this concept of skill is complemented with a current database. This so-called Knowledge Matrix is a list of currently known failures includes mechanisms with causes, error methods and further information.

Contents

Robustness Validation to assess the reliability of electronic components by the specific requirements of the product are compared with the actual "real life values​​". With the introduction of this methodology, a specific list of requirements (usually based on the OEM) is required. The requirements for the product can be distinguished. In the environmental requirements (mission profiles) and the functional requirements (use cases)

Weblinks

• Homepage ZVEI
• Robustness Validation (ZVEI Internet)
• Knowledge-Matrix Semiconductor
• Knowledge-Matrix EE-Modules
• SAE J1879 Robustness Validation Standard
• Press review Robustness Validation
• Homepage Automotive Electronics Council