The JEDEC Solid State Technology Association is an independent semiconductor engineering trade organization and standardization body headquartered in
Arlington County, Virginia
Arlington County is a County (United States), county in the Virginia, Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the Washington, D.C., District of Co ...
, United States.
JEDEC has over 300 members, including some of the world's largest computer companies. Its scope and past activities includes standardization of
part number
A part number (often abbreviated PN, P/N, part no., or part #) is an identifier of a particular part design or material used in a particular industry. Its purpose is to simplify reference to that item. A part number unambiguously identifies a part ...
s, defining an
electrostatic discharge
Electrostatic discharge (ESD) is a sudden and momentary flow of electric current between two electrically charged objects caused by contact, an short circuit, electrical short or dielectric breakdown. A buildup of static electricity can be caused ...
(ESD) standard, and leadership in the
lead-free manufacturing transition.
The origin of JEDEC traces back to 1944, when
RMA (subsequently renamed EIA) and
NEMA
The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) is the largest trade association of electrical equipment manufacturers in the United States. Founded in 1926, it advocates for the industry, and publishes standards for electrical product ...
established the Joint Electron Tube Engineering Council (JETEC) to coordinate
vacuum tube
A vacuum tube, electron tube, valve (British usage), or tube (North America), is a device that controls electric current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes to which an electric voltage, potential difference has been applied.
The type kn ...
type
numberings.
In 1958, with the advent of
semiconductor
A semiconductor is a material which has an electrical resistivity and conductivity, electrical conductivity value falling between that of a electrical conductor, conductor, such as copper, and an insulator (electricity), insulator, such as glas ...
technology, the joint JETEC-activity of
EIA Eia or EIA may refer to:
Medicine
* Enzyme immunoassay
* Equine infectious anemia
* Exercise-induced anaphylaxis
* Exercise-induced asthma
* External iliac artery
Transport
* Edmonton International Airport, in Alberta, Canada
* Erbil Internation ...
and NEMA was renamed into Joint Electron Device Engineering Council.
NEMA discontinued its involvement in 1979. In the fall of 1999, JEDEC became a separate trade association under the current name, but maintained an EIA alliance, until EIA ceased operations in 2011.
History
![Sylvania_2N34_Transistor](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/Sylvania_2N34_Transistor.jpg)
The origin of JEDEC can be traced back to 1944, when the
Radio Manufacturers Association
The Electronic Industries Alliance (EIA; until 1997 Electronic Industries Association) was an American standards and trade organization composed as an alliance of trade associations for electronics manufacturers in the United States. They devel ...
(RMA), and the
National Electrical Manufacturers Association
The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) is the largest trade association of electrical equipment manufacturers in the United States. Founded in 1926, it advocates for the industry, and publishes standards for electrical product ...
(NEMA) established the ''Joint Electron Tube Engineering Council'' (''JETEC'') to coordinate
vacuum tube
A vacuum tube, electron tube, valve (British usage), or tube (North America), is a device that controls electric current flow in a high vacuum between electrodes to which an electric voltage, potential difference has been applied.
The type kn ...
type numberings. The expansion of the radio industry caused JETEC to expand its scope to include solid-state devices and develop standards for
semiconductor device
A semiconductor device is an electronic component that relies on the electronic properties of a semiconductor material (primarily silicon, germanium, and gallium arsenide, as well as organic semiconductors) for its function. Its conductivity li ...
s. Eventually, the joint JETEC activity of
EIA Eia or EIA may refer to:
Medicine
* Enzyme immunoassay
* Equine infectious anemia
* Exercise-induced anaphylaxis
* Exercise-induced asthma
* External iliac artery
Transport
* Edmonton International Airport, in Alberta, Canada
* Erbil Internation ...
and NEMA was renamed into ''Joint Electron Device Engineering Council'' (''JEDEC'') in 1958.
NEMA discontinued its involvement in 1979.
Earlier in the 20th century, the organization was known as JETEC, the Joint Electron Tube Engineering Council, and was responsible for assigning and coordinating
RETMA tube designation The Radio Electronics Television Manufacturers' Association was formed in 1953, as a result of mergers with other trade standards organisations, such as the RMA. It was principally responsible for the standardised nomenclature for American vacuum ...
s to electron tubes (also called valves). The type
6L6
6L6 is the designator for a beam power tube introduced by Radio Corporation of America in April 1936 and marketed for application as a power amplifier for audio frequencies.J. F. Dreyer Jr."The Beam Power Output Tube" New York: McGraw-Hill, ''Ele ...
, still to be found in electric-guitar amplifiers, typically has a type number that was assigned by JETEC.
In the fall of 1999, JEDEC became a separate trade association under the current name, but maintained an EIA alliance.
Standards policies
JEDEC has adopted the principle of
open standard
An open standard is a standard that is openly accessible and usable by anyone. It is also a prerequisite to use open license, non-discrimination and extensibility. Typically, anybody can participate in the development. There is no single definition ...
s, which permit any and all interested companies to freely manufacture in compliance with adopted standards. This serves several vital functions for the advancement of electronic technologies. First and foremost, such standards allow for interoperability between different electrical components. JEDEC standards do not protect members from normal patent obligations. The designated representatives of JEDEC member companies are required to disclose patents and patent applications of which they are aware, assuming that this information is not considered proprietary. JEDEC patent policy requires that standards found to contain patented technology, whose owners do not sign a standard JEDEC patent letter, be withdrawn. Thus the penalty for a failure to disclose patents is retraction of the standard. Typically, standards are not adopted to cover technology that are subject to patent protection. In rare circumstances, standards covered by a patent may be adopted, but only on the understanding that the patent owner will not enforce such patent rights or, at a minimum, that the patent owner will provide a
reasonable and non-discriminatory license to the patented technology.
Part numbers
JEDEC's early work began as a
part number
A part number (often abbreviated PN, P/N, part no., or part #) is an identifier of a particular part design or material used in a particular industry. Its purpose is to simplify reference to that item. A part number unambiguously identifies a part ...
ing system for devices which became popular in the 1960s. The first semiconductor devices, such as the 1N23 silicon point contact diode, were still designated in the old ''
RMA tube designation In the years 1942-1944, the Radio Manufacturers Association used a descriptive nomenclature system for industrial, transmitting, and special-purpose vacuum tubes. The numbering scheme was distinct from both the numbering schemes used for standard r ...
'' system, where the "1" stood for "No filament/heater" and the "N" stood for "crystal rectifier". The first RMA digit thus was re-allocated from "heater power" to "p-n junction count" to form the new EIA/JEDEC ''EIA-370'' standard; for example, the 1N4001
rectifier
A rectifier is an electrical device that converts alternating current (AC), which periodically reverses direction, to direct current (DC), which flows in only one direction. The reverse operation (converting DC to AC) is performed by an Power ...
diode
A diode is a two-terminal electronic component that conducts current primarily in one direction (asymmetric conductance); it has low (ideally zero) resistance in one direction, and high (ideally infinite) resistance in the other.
A diode ...
and
2N2222 transistor part numbers came from ''EIA-370''. They are still popular today. In February 1982, JEDEC issued ''JESD370B'', superseding the original ''EIA-370'' and introducing a new letter symbol "C" that denotes the
die version, as opposed to "N", now meaning the
packaged version. The Japanese
JIS semiconductor designation Japanese Industrial Standards (JIS) has standard JIS-C-7012 for semiconductor part numbers. The first digit denotes the ''p-n junction count'' ("3" may also denote a dual-gate FET); then follows the letter "S", then:
Then follows the ''Japan Elec ...
system employs a similar pattern. JEDEC later developed a numbering system for integrated circuits, but this did not gain acceptance in the semiconductor industry. The European
Pro Electron Pro Electron or EECA is the European type designation and registration system for active components (such as semiconductors, liquid crystal displays, sensor devices, electronic tubes and cathode ray tubes).
Pro Electron was set up in 1966 in Bru ...
semiconductor numbering system originated in a similar way from the older
Mullard–Philips tube designation In Europe, the principal method of numbering vacuum tubes ("thermionic valves") was the nomenclature used by the Philips company and its subsidiaries Mullard in the UK, Valvo( de, it) in Germany, Radiotechnique (''Miniwatt-Dario'' b ...
.
Test methods and product standards
This early work was followed by a number of test methods, JESD22, and product standards. For example, the ESD caution symbol, which is the hand with the line drawn through it, was published by JEDEC and is used worldwide. JEDEC also has a dictionary of semiconductor terms. All of JEDEC standards are free on the Web for downloading after a free registration.
JEDEC has issued widely used standards for device interfaces, such as the
JEDEC memory standards
The JEDEC memory standards are the specifications for semiconductor memory circuits and similar storage devices promulgated by the Joint Electron Device Engineering Council (JEDEC) Solid State Technology Association, a semiconductor trade and eng ...
for computer memory (
RAM
Ram, ram, or RAM may refer to:
Animals
* A male sheep
* Ram cichlid, a freshwater tropical fish
People
* Ram (given name)
* Ram (surname)
* Ram (director) (Ramsubramaniam), an Indian Tamil film director
* RAM (musician) (born 1974), Dutch
* ...
), including the
DDR SDRAM
Double Data Rate Synchronous Dynamic Random-Access Memory (DDR SDRAM) is a double data rate (DDR) synchronous dynamic random-access memory (SDRAM) class of memory integrated circuits used in computers. DDR SDRAM, also retroactively called DDR1 ...
standards.
Semiconductor package drawings
JEDEC also developed a number of popular package drawings for semiconductors such as
TO-3
In electronics, TO-3 is a designation for a standardized metal semiconductor package used for power semiconductors, including transistors, silicon controlled rectifiers, and, integrated circuits. ''TO'' stands for "Transistor Outline" and relates ...
,
TO-5
In electronics, TO-5 is a designation for a standardized metal semiconductor package used for transistors and some integrated circuits. The ''TO'' element stands for "transistor outline" and refers to a series of technical drawings produced by JED ...
, etc. These are on the web under JEP-95. One hot issue is the development of lead-free packages that do not suffer from the
tin whiskers
Metal whiskering is a phenomenon which occurs in electrical devices when metals form long whisker-like projections over time. Tin whiskers were noticed and documented in the vacuum tube era of electronics early in the 20th century in equipment th ...
problem that reappeared since the recent
ban on lead content. JEDEC is working with
iNEMI on a joint interest group on lead-free issues.
Members
As of 2022, JEDEC has 342 members in total. Among them are large companies, which include the following.
References
External links
*
List of JEDEC member companiesJEP95 the master JEDEC package list (free registration required)
{{Authority control
Electrical safety standards organizations
Electronics lists
Standards organizations in the United States