UNDERSTANDING THE SEMICONDUCTOR LIFECYCLE
How Gateworks Delivers Component Transparency and Long-Term Stability
Historically, Country of Origin (COO) was determined by the location of the "last substantial transformation." Today, many manufacturers petition to use Country of Diffusion (COD) to determine origin, often to mitigate China-related tariffs. Gateworks provides the data necessary to navigate these complexities, ensuring your hardware meets all security and trade compliance mandates.
Wafer Fabrication & Logic Etching
The Diffusion or Country of Diffusion (COD) phase represents the front-end process where silicon wafers undergo complex chemical and thermal treatments. This includes wafer fabrication, photolithography, and logic etching to create the circuitry patterns that define the semiconductor's functionality.
Back-End Die Preparation
The Assembly or Country of Assembly (COA) stage is where the processed wafer is diced into individual units. These "dies" are then attached to a lead frame or substrate, wire-bonded for electrical connectivity, and encapsulated in a protective resin to ensure structural integrity and environmental resistance.
Quality Assurance & Logic Verification
During the Testing phase, every component undergoes rigorous electrical stress tests and logic verification. This ensures the silicon performs exactly to specification across various temperatures and voltages, filtering out any units that do not meet strict reliability standards.
Final Protection & Logistics
In the final Packaging stage, the finished components are laser-marked for traceability and placed into specialized carriers (such as trays or tape-and-reel). This stage ensures moisture-sensitive components are vacuum-sealed and ready for global logistics and integration into final electronic assemblies.
COMPLIANCE EXAMPLE
Catalina Single Board Computer Supply Chain Matrix
Gateworks provides customers with detailed visibility into the sourcing and manufacturing lifecycle of critical data-flow semiconductor components used in products like the Catalina GW9200 or GW9400 platform.
| Function | Manufacturer | Diffusion (COD) | Assembly (COA) | Testing | Packaging |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Processor | NXP | Taiwan | South Korea | Malaysia | Malaysia |
| Secure Element | NXP | Singapore | Thailand | Thailand | Thailand |
| DRAM | Micron | Japan | Taiwan | Taiwan | Taiwan |
| TPM | Microchip | Singapore | Thailand/Taiwan | Thailand/Taiwan | Thailand/Taiwan |
| GSC Controller | TI | USA (Dallas) | Philippines | Philippines | Philippines |
| GbE PHY | TI | USA (Dallas) | Philippines | Philippines | Philippines |
| GbE Switch | Microchip | Taiwan | Taiwan | Taiwan | Taiwan |
| PCIe Switch | Microchip | Taiwan | Taiwan | Taiwan | Taiwan |
| CAN Isolator | TI | USA (Dallas) | Taiwan | Taiwan | Taiwan |
| GPIO Expander | TI | Germany | Philippines | Philippines | Philippines |
| GPIO Expander | NXP | Singapore | Taiwan | Taiwan | Taiwan |
| IO Buffer | NXP | Taiwan | Taiwan | Taiwan | Taiwan |
| GPS | U-Blox | Germany | Japan/Taiwan | Taiwan | Philippines |
| EEPROM | Microchip | USA / Taiwan | Phil/Tai/Thai | Phil/Tai/Thai | Phil/Tai/Thai |
OEMS CHOOSE GATEWORKS
Built for Industrial Edge AI Applications
Gateworks Corporation is committed to providing more than just a "Made in the USA" label; we provide the granular data and manufacturing control necessary for our customers to deploy with confidence in any environment.
By meticulously auditing the journey of every silicon component from the initial diffusion in the foundry to final testing in our domestic facilities, we ensure that your infrastructure is built on a foundation of integrity, reliability and technical sovereignty.
Full Hardware Sovereignty: Gateworks offers Domestic PCB Fabrication. By utilizing ITAR-registered domestic partners for board fabrication alongside our USA assembly, we deliver a fully sovereign, audited hardware solution.
