Intel Corp (INTC)

[Elmer Phud]

A BI is not to actually age the device, only to exercise it over a temperature range sufficient to uncover gross defects.

Actually BI is intended to excellerate infant mortality, or early life failures. This is essentially aging a part but not by years, only weeks or months. Experiments are done on a process early on to plot the infant mortality rate. Based on the data, a BI time requirement is determined that will produce an infant mortality rate in the field that will fall under the rate of total defective parts shipped that is guaranteed to customers. Sometimes this BI time is zero and no BI is required. With AMD's fab problems I seriously doubt they are at zero hours BI. I am not at liberty to discuss Intel's BI requirements.

All this gets back to the question, could AMD assemble a device, burn it in, test it, mark, pack and still deliver it to a customer in a weeks time? I would say yes under emergency conditions but certainly not under production conditions.

EP