Inoperability, Or Why JEDEC Standards Came to Be At All

Interoperability—the ability of hardware and software to be compatible with other devices, parts, and technologies across manufacturers—is a critical part of the microelectronics field. Interoperability creates a level of fluidity that allows manufacturers to develop synergistic relationships with companies across a range of industries. These relationships not only support microelectronics firms, but also propel the technological advancement of everything from computers and medical devices to vehicles and credit cards. 

Industry-wide standardization is the driving force behind the highly advantageous level of interoperability that the microelectronics field enjoys. As Ultra Librarian explains, “Standards are applied at the product level, board level, chip level, and protocol level, all of which create constraints for board designers.” One of the most prominent organizations presiding over the ever-evolving standards applied to and implemented within the semiconductor industry is the JEDEC Solid State Technology Association. 

History of JEDEC: It Started With Vacuum Tubes 

The history of JEDEC–or something like it–runs further back than you might suspect. The predecessor to JEDEC was formed in 1944 when several associations formed a standardization body—called Joint Electron Tube Engineering Council, or JETEC—to coordinate vacuum tube numbering for the radio industry. The organization gradually expanded its scope to include semiconductors, and in 1958 was renamed the Joint Electron Device Engineering Council. 

While JEDEC initially served the function of creating and assigning parts numbers to devices within the microelectronics industry, by the 1970s the organization had grown to encompass a number of important committees. These new groups convened to set standardizations for products used by the government (known as JC-13); quality and reliability in commercial applications (JC-14); and terms, definitions, and symbols within the industry (JC-10). As the role and centrality of semiconductors in everyday life expanded during subsequent decades—in large part owing to the exploding popularity and breakneck evolution of the personal computer—JEDEC’s standardization responsibilities grew increasingly vital to the blossoming field. 

JEDEC’s Expansion to the Semiconductor Industry

By the late 1990s, electronics companies were becoming more globalized and outsourcing much of their manufacturing overseas. Recognizing this evolution within the industry, JEDEC agreed to make its standards available all over the world through the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). According to JEDEC President John Kelly, the agreement “acknowledged that JEDEC was developing standards that were important to the international semiconductor industry.” In 1997, the organization published the JEDEC standards online for the first time, allowing anyone in the industry to access, read, and download them for free. This open standards policy, which was considered unconventional at the time and was even questioned by many in the standards community, would go on to become a critical factor in the maturation of the industry and help facilitate its superior interoperability. 

Now, JEDEC—which is now comprised of over 3,000 volunteers representing 350 companies—has started supporting the cloud computing industry. As technology companies like Google and Amazon build up their sprawling server farms, the body is developing JEDEC standards for the solid-state drives (SSDs) used by the servers that power these large-scale operations. 

JEDEC Standards for Memory 

While JEDEC publishes standards for a variety of devices and processes in the microelectronics industry—including, more recently, detailed requirements for the risk management procedures necessary to counter the rise of counterfeit electronics—the organization’s most well-known and arguably consequential standards are for memory. The JEDEC standards for memory are primarily organized into three categories: main memory, flash memory, and mobile memory. 

JEDEC Standard for Main Memory 

JEDEC’s main memory standards are published by the JC-42 Committee for Solid State Memories. The JEDEC standard covers synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), and double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM). Concerning DDR SDRAM specifically, JEDEC has published performance standards for DDR3, DDR4, and DDR5. 

JEDEC Standard for Flash Memory

The organization’s standards for flash memory, which are established by JEDEC’s JC-64 Committee for Embedded Memory Storage and Removable Memory Cards, encompass solid state drives (SSDs), embedded MultiMediaCard (eMMC), and Universal Flash Storage. This JEDEC standard applies to solid-state flash technology—including things like USB drives, removable memory cards, and the technology in mobile devices.

JEDEC Standard for Mobile Memory

The body’s mobile memory standards are primarily focused on low-power double data rate (LPDDR) and Wide I/O memory technologies. The LPDDR standards aim to establish a benchmark for mobile devices’ memory speed and efficiency. The Wide I/O standards, meanwhile, put forth performance requirements for high-bandwidth memory (HBM). These mobile memory standards are formed by the JC-42.6 Subcommittee for Lower Power Memories. 

Challenges of JEDEC Standards for the Semiconductor Supply Chain

There’s little doubt that JEDEC’s expertise has been an invaluable asset to the semiconductor industry’s ever-diversifying range of applications and interoperability since the body’s inception nearly seven decades ago. That said, adhering to the lofty and exacting JEDEC standards can be challenging for those operating in the field’s supply chain. Below, we discuss two such standards, both of which were published over the past decade, and the specific difficulties they present for manufacturers and suppliers.

1. The PCN Standard

In July 2016, JEDEC published J-STD-046, which it termed the Customer Notification Standard for Product/Process Changes by Electronic Product Suppliers. As the name implies, the new standard—which replaced its predecessor, JESD46—requires suppliers of “electronic products and their constituent components” to notify customers when they are making changes to their products and associated manufacturing processes. Specifically, J-STD-046 mandates that suppliers issue a product change notification, or PCN, to their customers at least 90 days before the first shipment date of the modified product. 

To be clear, this is an entirely logical and even critical protocol for the microelectronics industry. Customers benefit tremendously from an official forewarning of a product change or discontinuation that could affect their supply chain continuity and manufacturing process. But the standard’s justification and utility doesn’t make adherence any easier for manufacturers. Nearly two-thirds of the PCNs in Z2Data’s database were not issued to customers before the 90-day period stipulated by JEDEC. Further, Z2Data found that of the roughly 328,000 EOL notices it’s captured in its database thus far in 2023, a somewhat staggering 82,200 of them did not have an accompanying PCN issued to customers. 

There are several reasons why manufacturers may be finding the JEDEC standard on PCN issuance challenging to follow. For one thing, smaller firms might simply lack the operational bandwidth to institutionalize a formal process for sending out PCNs to customers—leading to inconsistent, scattershot efforts. Or, owing to the unique exigencies of the semiconductor supply chain, suppliers are finding it difficult to issue PCNs a full 90 days before the altered product ships to customers. (Z2Data’s research suggests that most manufacturers that are following through on issuing PCNs aren’t hitting the JEDEC-mandated deadline.) 

Whatever the specific reasoning, what’s clear is that while JEDEC’s PCN standard may seem eminently straightforward and reasonable on the surface, the reality within the supply chain is more complicated and imperfect. Finally, it’s worth mentioning that a lack of accountability may be quietly permitting these manufacturers to consider a variety of other factors—self-interested and otherwise—when determining whether to put forth the work and transparency necessary to achieve adherence. 

2. The Counterfeit Electronics Standard 

Just a few months prior to releasing its newest PCN standard, JEDEC in March 2016 published JESD243, its standard procedures for manufacturers to combat the proliferation of counterfeit electronics. JESD243 focuses on three specific products in the microelectronics industry: monolithic microcircuits, hybrid microcircuits, and discrete semiconductors. 

The standards include a range of requirements for manufacturers of electronic parts. Chief among them is that manufacturing organizations must create and implement a counterfeit parts control plan that outlines processes for risk mitigation and reporting of “suspect counterfeit parts.” In addition, this control plan must also include:

• A list of the manufacturer’s authorized distributors available for customers (to be posted on the company’s website or provided to customers upon request)
• An approved supplier listing, including all subcontractors working on individual components along the supply chain
• Policies in place to control and dispose of nonconforming products and materials, for the purposes of keeping them from re-entering the supply chain

While these procedures are arguably critical measures in the industry-wide effort to mitigate the rise of counterfeit electronics, they also impose an additional layer of procedural responsibility on manufacturers. In order to execute the counterfeit parts control plan laid out by the JEDEC standard, organizations must have strong, up-to-date visibility into their supply chain and highly specific delineations regarding the scope of authorization for both distributors and suppliers. 

In Summary

It’s largely unacceptable—and potentially detrimental to the industry as a whole—for manufacturers to skirt these requirements. Z2Data’s statistics on PCN compliance suggest, however, that it's entirely possible that a large swath of manufacturers are not adhering to the letter on JESD243. The extent to which this potential noncompliance is a legitimate problem for the semiconductor industry and its sensitive supply chain will almost certainly be a matter of perspective. 

What remains indisputable, though, is that the stakes will always be high for a $440 billion—and rapidly growing—global industry. JEDEC’s enduring presence in the field and high expectations for its stakeholders are a persistent, unrelenting reminder of that.