Rochester Electronics adds support for the Freescale MC68040 MPU end-of-life product

     Rochester Electronics is licensed by Freescale to provide solutions for the continued production of the Freescale MC68040 32-bit microprocessor product family. Freescale has announced plans to end production of the MC68040, and Freescale will no longer supply its own chips after November 2015. The agreement between Freescale and Rochester Electronics provides customers with a safe and reliable component source for this popular conventional MPU, enabling a continuous supply.

     Rochester Electronics stores all original Freescale components and silicon wafers, and can be built on the basis of a wide range of possible devices. As the world's largest continuing manufacturer and supplier of long-term aftermarket solutions for end-of-life components, obsolete and discontinued semiconductors, Rochester Electronics' extensive experience enables it to guarantee the supply of these components. Freescale also provides a complete design and test IP, enabling Rochester Electronics to continue manufacturing the required products even after the existing wafer inventory is depleted.

     In addition to the 68040 product family, Rochester Electronics' support for Freescale's end-of-life products includes the 68020, 68030, and 68060, as well as the 68882 floating-point coprocessor. Freescale will also support Rochester Electronics in supplying the MC68360 QUICC communications processor, which Freescale discontinued in April.

     The MC680x0 product family has been widely used in the military, aerospace, transportation, medical, industrial and communications sectors, all of which are characterized by products with long life cycles that require components to extend their availability. Rigorous qualification and standard approval processes make it either difficult or prohibitively expensive to redesign systems in these areas.

     Commenting on the collaboration with Freescale, Chris Gerrish, President of Rochester Electronics, said, "The MC680x0 family of products has been and continues to be the key to many systems with long product life cycles. Rochester Electronics' continued production of solutions licensed and licensed by Freescale will save customers incalculable redesign costs, time and other investments. Our in-house design, assembly and testing enables smooth and continuous unlimited production and supply."