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Product variant matrix

Lay out a product family's variants against features, packages, grades and options, and check coverage, duplicates and the parts each variant needs.

Manufacturing, fab and supplyFor membersHow it worksSourcesWhere it helps

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How it works

A product family is sold as many variants of a few base designs: a memory size here, a package or temperature grade there. This worksheet lays the variants out against the features, so you can see which values the family offers, whether two variants are the same product under two names, whether customers' requested combinations exist, and how many dies each variant and each base die has to supply.

  1. Name the features and the values the family offers. Give up to ten features in the settings, for example flash size, package, temperature grade and interfaces. For each, you can list the values the family is meant to offer, one line per feature with the values separated by a bar. Then each variant has one value per feature, its price, its status and its base die.
  2. Set the variants that count. Variants that are planned, sampling or in production are live. End-of-life variants stay in the list for the record, but they do not count towards coverage, duplicates, gaps or the dies needed.
  3. Check coverage. A value is covered when at least one live variant offers it. Coverage per feature is the number of offered values that are covered divided by the number offered. A value used by a variant but absent from your list is flagged, which is how a misspelt or unplanned value shows up.coverage of a feature = offered values with at least one live variant / offered values
  4. Find duplicates. Two live variants with the same value in every feature are the same product under two SKUs. Values are compared ignoring case and extra spaces. A repeated SKU is flagged too.
  5. Find the gaps. A requested combination is a line such as Flash=512 KB; Package=QFN48. It is met when some live variant matches every pair. If only an end-of-life variant matches, that is reported separately, because the customer cannot buy it new.
  6. Count variants and dies. Variants are counted by status and by base die. Each variant needs a number of dies per unit (one for a single-die part, more for a multi-die module or card) and a yearly volume. The dies needed are the product, summed by base die for the live variants.dies needed = dies per unit x yearly volume; dies for a base die = sum over its live variants
  7. Read the issues. The issue list gathers everything above, plus variants with a blank feature value, a missing price or a production variant with no base die named, so the family can be tidied before a datasheet or an order form is made from it.

Assumptions

  • Each feature is a label with a value written as text. Two values are the same when they read the same ignoring case and spaces, so 512 KB and 512KB are different values.
  • A variant is identified by its feature values alone. Price, status and base die do not make two variants different.
  • Dies needed assume one die per unit unless you set otherwise, and take no account of yield, test loss or spares. Use the wafer and yield tools for that.
  • The presets use invented families, parts, prices and volumes, to show how the matrix works.

Limits and warnings

  • The matrix checks the family you describe. It does not know which combinations are technically possible, so a requested combination may be missing because it cannot be built.
  • It does not model option pricing, bundles or rules that tie one feature to another, such as a package that cannot carry a given temperature grade.
  • It handles up to ten features and a sheet of up to 500 variants.
  • Coverage can only be measured against the values you list. With no list for a feature, it shows the values found and cannot say any are missing.

Sources

The methods and default figures rest on these public sources. The wording here is our own; read the source for its full text.

Where it helps

The lifecycle stages this tool serves: 3 stages in 1 lifecycle.

Terms on this page

Product family
A set of products built on a shared design that differ in features, memory size, package, speed or temperature grade.
Temperature grade
The classification of a part by its specified ambient or junction operating range, which determines where it may be used.
Base die
The bottom die in a 3D stack, which carries through-silicon vias, the external interface and often power delivery and shared logic for the dice above.
SKU
A distinct sellable configuration of a product, differentiated by speed grade, feature fusing, temperature range, package or memory size.
Die
A single rectangular block of processed silicon cut from a finished wafer, carrying one complete circuit.
Datasheet
The authoritative customer-facing document giving a part's electrical characteristics, absolute maximum ratings, timing, pinout, package drawing and ordering information.
Yield
The share of manufactured units that meet specification, counted at a given step: line yield through the fab, die yield at wafer sort, and assembly and final test yield after packaging.
Wafer
A thin, polished disc of single-crystal silicon on which hundreds or thousands of identical circuits are built at the same time.

The full glossary

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