1. Purpose of the gate
End of support is the point after which the product receives no more updates, repairs or support from the team. For an FPGA-based product that means more than stopping sales: the route that updates units in the field must be closed safely, the keys that protect the bitstream must be retired, and the records needed to answer later questions about shipped units must be kept.
The criteria are: the final software and bitstream update published; spares and repair commitments met; the design, bitstream source and build environment archive complete; and production keys and the update service retired as planned.
The gate is the product's promise to its customers kept. The end-of-support notice issued here should match what the discontinuance notice said at the Last-time buy gate, or explain any change.
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