COTS Insertion

Rapid technology advances have made the support of electronic systems, particularly military, increasingly difficult due to obsolete and unavailable components.  Integrated circuits (ICs) are being dropped from manufacturers inventories at an alarming rate.  Tracking obsolete components and developing replacement strategies is becoming critical for both military and commercial systems.

Problem components are typically identified when a purchasing agent has difficulty making a buy.  Reaction to that news is usually panic.  A hasty solution is developed averting crisis temporarily.  Unfortunately, the same scenario will be repeated weeks or months later when another component becomes obsolete.   The time to identify obsolete components is before they actually become obsolete.   More carefully crafted solutions can be implemented when immediate solutions are not required.  A system health analysis provides the data necessary to make prudent plans.  For example, a health analysis can identify currently obsolete components and predict which components will become obsolete in the near future.  Armed with that data, it may make sense to replace several components at once instead of one at at time.   The health analysis could identify that 75% of the components will be obsolete within a year.  In that case it might make sense to do a complete redesign. 

SDA can track the status of electronic components, research problem items, analyze the health of systems, and recommend solutions.  Some of the solution options available are: new component manufacture based on original build documentation, emulation circuits that mimic the obsolete component, several components, or larger circuit function, and complete circuit redesign.  Which of these options is appropriate?  SDA can help answer that question.