In the electronics industry, a second source is a company that is licensed to manufacture and sell components originally designed by another company (the first source). The field of electronics comprises the study and use of systems that operate by controlling the flow of electrons (or other charge carriers) in devices such as thermionic valves (vacuum tubes) and semiconductors. ...

It used to be common for purchasers to avoid components that were only available from a single source. For simple components such as resistors and transistors, this was not usually a problem, but for complex integrated circuits, vendors often reacted by licensing one or more other companies to manufacture and sell the same parts as second sources. While the details of such licenses are usually confidential, they often involved cross-licensing, so that the original company also obtained the right to manufacture and sell parts designed by the second source. Integrated circuit showing memory blocks, logic and input/output pads around the periphery A monolithic integrated circuit (also known as IC, microchip, silicon chip, computer chip or chip) is a miniaturized electronic circuit (consisting mainly of semiconductor devices, as well as passive components) which has been manufactured in the surface...

Examples

MOS Technology licensed Rockwell and Synertek to second source the 6502 microprocessor and support components. MOS Technology, Inc. ... Rockwell can refer to: Rockwell International - a defense company in the United States Rockwell Automation - an industrial automation company that descended from Rockwell International Rockwell Collins - a communications and aviation electronics company that also descended from Rockwell International Willard Rockwell - businessman who helped shape and name what became Rockwell International... Synertek was founded in 1973 as a masked ROM house that branched out into a fairly broad offering of MOS/LSI circuits (Static RAMs, ROMs, EPROMS, Dynamic and Static Shift Registers) and then sometime before 1979 became a second source to MOS Technologys 6502 microprocessor. ... The MOS Technology 6502 is an 8-bit microprocessor designed by MOS Technology in 1975. ...

Intel licensed AMD to second source Intel microprocessors such as the 8086 and its related support components. This second source agreement is particularly famous for leading to much litigation between the two parties. The agreement gave AMD the rights to second source later Intel parts, but Intel refused to provide the masks for the 386 to AMD. AMD reverse engineered the 386, and Intel then claimed that AMD's license to the 386 microcode only allowed AMD to "use" the microcode but not to sell products incorporating it. The courts eventually decided in favor of AMD. Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC, SEHK: 4335), founded in 1968 as Integrated Electronics Corporation, is an American multinational corporation that is best known for designing and manufacturing microprocessors and specialized integrated circuits. ... Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. ... It has been suggested that Microprocessor 8086 be merged into this article or section. ... A lawsuit is a civil action brought before a court in order to recover a right, obtain damages for an injury, obtain an injunction to prevent an injury, or obtain a declaratory judgment to prevent future legal disputes. ... Intel 80386 DX, 33MHz, foreground The Intel 80386 is a microprocessor which was used as the central processing unit (CPU) of many personal computers from 1986 until 1994 and later. ... A microprogram is a program consisting of microcode that controls the different parts of a computers central processing unit (CPU). ...

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