1. Purpose of the gate
Final release announced is the point of no return for software support. Once customers are told the date of the final release and the end of support, they will plan around it: some will move to a newer chip, some will lock their products to the final release, and some will arrange to maintain the software themselves. A poorly prepared announcement causes confusion, damages trust and can breach commitments made in contracts.
The gate criteria are an end-of-support notice sent within the agreed notice period, an agreed final release scope and a planned migration guide. The end-of-support notice is the gating work product, produced by software product management from the long-term support plan. The notice period should be the one stated in the support policy and contracts, which is why it must be checked before the notice is sent, not after.
In the SoC lifecycle, this review waits for Last-time buy, which is a natural point to announce how long software support continues. Announcing software end of support together with, or soon after, the last-time buy lets customers make a single decision about their remaining parts and the software that runs on them. Software support may still continue well beyond the last-time buy; that is the choice this review records.
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