Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!apple!amdahl!netcom!mcmahan
From: mcmahan@netcom.UUCP (Dave Mc Mahan)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.m68k
Subject: Re: 68332 with MMU
Message-ID: <16986@netcom.UUCP>
Date: 17 Nov 90 06:06:54 GMT
References: <11249@goofy.Apple.COM> <16849@netcom.UUCP> <1873@motmpl.UUCP>
Organization: Dave McMahan @ NetCom Services
Lines: 76


 In a previous article, ron@motmpl.UUCP (Ron Widell) writes:
>Dave Mc Mahan (mcmahan@netcom.UUCP) writes:
>> 
>> It was designed due to the automotive applications market, but it is also
>> [...] 
>The advantage here to the rest of the world is that automotive applications
>require huge volumes and low prices. So when the production volumes start,
>we'd better be able to build these things profitably.

I guess the big question is:  when are production volumes going to start?
I agree that standardizing in the auto market will insure large enough
sales to support the making of the part, but how long will it be before the
chip is stable and I can get manuals that aren't marked 'preliminary' and
have lots of typos and errors?  This is a great part, but I'd like to know
how soon it will be stable.  Also, the SIM manual states that the part will
be produced in a plastic package, but all I've seen so far is ceramic.  When
is the package going to change over to the plastic version?
 

>> The other complaint I have is that you have to buy a minimum of
>> one tray.  A tray is 36 parts.  Quite a large cash outlay for prototype work.
>> If you want to do volume surface mount production, a tray of parts is no
>> big deal.  For designing the product, though, it's a bit steep.

>Our AOQ (average outgoing quality) is high enough that a significant ( > 10%)
>proportion of quality/reliability problems are directly attributable to the
>handling of devices (test, mark, package, ship). The MPQ (minimum packaging
>quantity) of 36 units (one tray) is an effort to minimixe the handling, thus
>reducing the failure rate. This reduces our manufacturing cost and our
>pricing for production volumes. There is special packaging (and a special part
>number) which allows you to get these parts modulo 2, rather than modulo 36.
>You do, however pay at the single-piece pricing rate.

I have purchased about 10 of the parts in the little two unit plastic boxes
for doing our proto run.  I like the plastic package concept you came up with,
it looks like a very functional way protect all those sensitive little leads.
Will the part ever be made in a PGA form?  This would make proto development
mucho easier to do.  Changing to a new die rev would be much simpler than
cutting off the current chip, desoldering 132 little dangling legs by hand,
and then soldering on the new improved chip.

Another question I have that I can't seem to get answered by the product
engineer in Austin is:

I'm currently using the BCC (business card computer) that comes with a 332,
some RAM, some EPROM, and a crystal on it.  (nice little scheme, by the way!)
The documentation states that I can re-program the EPROM on board by
erasing the old one and then using the BCCDI (business card computer development
interface) to send over the new code.  Ok, I like the idea and the way it is
done, but how do I get the combination to generate the proper strobe signals
for writing to the EPROM?  From the book I have on EPROMs, you have to hold
the chip-select active for something like 1 millisecond or so while you assert
the data lines and the write signals that cause the EPROM to program the desired
data.  Since the chip-select in question is tied directly to the 332 CPU chip,
how can I hold it active long enough without blowing up the 332?  Nobody I can
find in Austin seems to know.  I'm looking for nitty-gritty, technical,
detailed steps for a way to accomplish this task.


>I apologize if this just sounds like a sales pitch, there are times when
>knowing the reasons for a policy make it easier to understand, accept, or
>tolerate.

Don't worry about the pitch.  I understand why the parts come that way, I'm
just wishing for something that suites my needs (those of the little guy in
a niche market) better.

>Ron Widell, Field Applications Eng.	|UUCP: {...}mcdchg!motmpl!ron
>Motorola Semiconductor Products, Inc.,	|Voice:(612)941-6800

   -dave

-- 
Dave McMahan                            mcmahan@netcom.uucp
					{apple,amdahl,claris}!netcom!mcmahan