1. Purpose and scope
Software support ends on a decision, not by drift. Devices built with the chip may stay in use long after the last fix, so the way support ends matters: customers need notice, a final release that includes every fix the company intends to ship, a final security advisory that tells them what is known and unfixed, a migration guide to a newer chip or software line, and confidence that a critical fix could still be built if one were ever needed.
The purpose of this stage is to close support so that no commitment is broken and nothing needed later is lost. The end-of-support date may be before, with or after the chip's end of life, and for automotive and other long-life markets support may be needed for as long as parts are supplied or longer. The archive is the main technical work: source, toolchains, build environments, signing records and test assets kept and tested so a rebuild works.
In scope: the end-of-support notice, the final release scope and the final software release, the final security advisory, the software archive and its rebuild test, the migration guide, decisions on signing key retirement under the key management plan, and closure of support channels. Out of scope: the chip's own end of life and last-time buy, which belong to the SoC lifecycle, though they are coordinated with this stage.
12 more sections for registered members.