In short
A post-silicon bring-up plan holds the boards, the firmware, the test benches, the characterisation lots and the people against the samples date, and is rebuilt the hour that date moves. Most bring-ups lose weeks not on the silicon but on a board that was not ready, a firmware build that assumed a different sample date, or a bench that was booked for another program. Tymeline re-plans the bring-up the same hour the fab's date changes.
What bring-up depends on
Far more than the chip:
- Evaluation and characterisation boards built and tested before samples land.
- Firmware and drivers that can boot the part on day one, and a plan for what is proved in each week after.
- Bench and tester time booked for the window, not for the original window.
- Characterisation and reliability lots scheduled against the real samples date.
- The people: the same engineers are often finishing the next tape-out.
Keeping the plan true
The samples date moves; shuttles and hot lots shift. When it moves, every item above has to move with it, and the owners have to know the same day. Tymeline reads the foundry traffic and the engineering tools, holds the bring-up plan to the samples date, and rebuilds it the hour the date changes, with the firmware team's plan re-sequenced and the bench bookings re-made.