High Performance Microchip Supply - Under Secretary of Defense ...

FINDINGS ___________________________________________________________________
Additionally, the mask costs for fabricating chips using advanced
technologies can be overwhelming. The cost of a mask set for a 90
nm design now exceeds $1 million, and future process-generation
mask costs will be even more expensive.
Since it is clear that the general tendency is to manufacture
leading-edge semiconductor products outside the United States and
the fixed costs of ASIC design and fabrication are skyrocketing, a
clear trend is emerging for designers to use as few custom
semiconductor products as possible; instead, they employ
programmable standard products. Semiconductor standard products
whose functionality can be changed by software programming, as in
the case of microprocessors (MPUs) and digital signal processors
(DSPs), or hardware programmability, as in the case of field
programmable products such as field programmable gate arrays.
While these standard products will also increasingly be
manufactured offshore, their functionality is mostly controlled by the
user, it may be impossible to independently secure that functionality.
Programmable parts have more intricate designs, which make
them difficult to validate (especially after manufacturing) and thus
more subject to undetected compromise. Thus, it is important that
programmable components be “trustable,” though only to a degree
that is commensurate with their application. In a small subset of
cases, the degree of trust required might be so high that all steps of
the design, manufacturing, and supply chain must be thoroughly
secured, for example, through the use of a trusted foundry.
However, in many cases use of a trusted foundry will be infeasible
and/or it will be sufficient for the DOD to “trust” high-volume
“standard” parts that are manufactured commercially and obtained
via a supply chain that limits the risk of post-manufacture tampering.
The key to success in all commodity businesses, including
manufactured programmable standard products and memories, lies
in producing very high volumes of the same design very efficiently.
This precept has led to factories designed around very large wafers,
optimized for specific product designs. Cost is reduced by
eliminating any variations in process and product. This is the
manufacturing model for all major IC producers today.
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