JEDEC

JEDEC Solid State Technology Association, formerly known as Joint Electron Device Engineering Council (JEDEC) or "Joint Electron Device Engineering Councils", is the semiconductor engineering standardization body of the Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA), a trade association that represents all areas of the electronics industry in the United States.

Origins

JEDEC was founded in 1958 as a joint activity between EIA and NEMA to develop standards for semiconductor devices. (NEMA dropped its involvement in 1979.) This early work began as a part numbering system for devices which became quite popular in the '60s. For example, the 1N4001 rectifier diode and 2N2222 transistor part numbers came from JEDEC. These part numbers are still popular today. JEDEC later developed a numbering system for integrated circuits, but this did not gain acceptance in the semiconductor industry.

Test methods and product standards

This early work was followed by a number of test methods, JESD22, and product standards. For example, the ESD caution symbol, which is the hand with the line drawn through it, was published by JEDEC and is used worldwide. JEDEC also has a dictionary of semiconductor terms. All of JEDEC standards are free on web for downloading after a free registration.

JEDEC has issued widely-used standards for device interfaces, such as the JEDEC memory standards for computer memory (RAM), including the DDR SDRAM standards. JEDEC has over 300 members, including some of the world's largest computer companies.

Package drawings

JEDEC also developed a number of popular package drawings for semiconductors such as TO-3, TO-5, etc. These are on the web under JEP-95. One hot issue is the development of lead-free packages that do not suffer from the tin whiskers problem that reappeared since the recent ban on lead content. JEDEC is working with iNemi on a joint interest group on lead-free issues.

Industry standards

JEDEC's adoption of open industry standards (i.e., standards that permit any and all interested companies to freely manufacture in compliance with adopted standards) serves several vital functions for the advancement of electronic technologies. First and foremost, such standards allow for interoperability between different electrical components. JEDEC standards do not protect members from normal patent obligations. The designated representatives of JEDEC member companies are required to disclose patents and patent applications of which they personally are aware (assuming that this information is not considered proprietary). JEDEC patent policy requires that standards found to contain patents, whose owners will not sign a standard JEDEC patent letter, be withdrawn. Thus the penalty for a failure to disclose patents is retraction of the standard. Typically, standards will not be adopted to cover technology that will be subject to patent protection. In rare circumstances, standards covered by a patent may be adopted, but only on the understanding that the patent owner will not enforce such patent rights or, at a minimum, that the patent owner will provide a reasonable and non-discriminatory license to the patented technology. [§8.2 of the JEDEC Manual of Organization and Procedure (JM21-M), http://www.jedec.org/Home/manuals/JM21L.pdf]

Today

In the fall of 1999, JEDEC became a separate trade association, but still within the EIA Alliance. The new association was known as 'JEDEC Solid State Technology Association'.

External links

* [http://jedec.org/ Official site of JEDEC.org]
* [http://www.jedec.org/service_members/New_Members/memberco.cfm List of JEDEC member companies]
* [http://www.jedec.org/download/pub95/default.cfm JEP95,] the master JEDEC package list (free registration required)
* [http://www.inemi.org/cms/projects/ese/tin_whisker_usergroup.html INemi] , tin whiskers user group of iNemi, a consortium of electronics companies