Lifecycle & Longevity Statement
E1M and E1M-X System-on-Module families
Purpose
Industrial OEMs designing equipment that will ship and be supported for 5-10+ years need supplier-side commitments before they will commit to a SoM. This document is Alp Lab's public statement of those commitments for the E1M and E1M-X System-on-Module families.
It is intended for:
- Engineering teams selecting a SoM for a multi-year program.
- Procurement evaluating supply-chain risk.
- Regulatory / compliance teams documenting the supplier in safety files (IEC 62443, ISO 9001, etc.).
This document is informational and is updated whenever Alp Lab's lifecycle posture changes. It is not a contractual commitment; specific terms can be negotiated as part of a Long-Term Supply Agreement (LTSA) — contact sales@alplab.ai.
Long-Term Availability Commitment
Alp Lab commits to at least 10 years of production availability for every SoM SKU from the date that SKU enters volume production, subject to silicon supplier availability for the upstream SoC.
Table: Production-availability commitment
| Commitment | Detail |
|---|---|
| Minimum production life | 10 years from volume-production start, family-level. |
| End-of-Life (EOL) notice period | Minimum 12 months advance written notice to active customers before any production stop. |
| Last-Time-Buy (LTB) window | Minimum 6 months after EOL announcement to place final orders. |
| Final-delivery window | Up to 12 months after the LTB cut-off to take delivery of LTB orders. |
| Backwards-compatible refresh | Where a silicon supplier discontinues an upstream component, Alp Lab will release a form-fit-function-compatible refresh of the affected SoM SKU under a new minor revision before EOL of the original revision. |
Silicon-Supplier Risk Management
Each SoM's longevity depends on the underlying SoC supplier. Alp Lab tracks each supplier's published lifecycle and aligns its own commitments accordingly.
Table: Upstream silicon longevity (per supplier published commitments)
| SoM family | Primary silicon | Suppliers stated longevity | Alp Lab commitment |
|---|---|---|---|
| E1M-AEN | Alif Semiconductor Ensemble | 10+ years (per Alifs industrial-grade longevity program) | 10 years minimum from VOL production |
| E1M-X V2N | Renesas RZ/V2N | 15 years (per Renesas industrial-MPU program) | 10 years minimum from VOL production |
| E1M-X V2N-M1 | Renesas RZ/V2N + DeepX DX-M1 | RZ/V2N: 15 years (Renesas); DX-M1: TBD (DeepX program details emerging) | 10 years minimum from VOL production; DX-M1 longevity is the constraining factor |
Versioning & Change-Management Policy
Form-fit-function (FFF) compatibility
Within a single SoM SKU, all hardware revisions are form-fit-function compatible. A customer who designed against E1M-AEN701 revision B can drop in a E1M-AEN701 revision C without modifying the carrier-board PCB, the assembly process, or the firmware image, except for fixes documented in the corresponding errata (ER-AEN-001, etc.).
Backwards-compatible additions
Minor revisions may add features (populated parts, new boot options, expanded operating range) that the previous revision did not have. Software that targets the older revision continues to work; software that wants to use the new capability must opt-in explicitly via the per-SoM manifest in the E1M Specification (E1M-STD-1.0 Annex C).
Backwards-incompatible changes
A change that breaks form-fit-function compatibility (different pad mapping, different electrical envelope, mandatory new external component) is not permitted within a single SoM SKU. Such a change requires:
- A new SKU.
- An accompanying Product Change Notification (PCN), issued at least 6 months before any affected customer takes delivery.
Product Change Notifications
Alp Lab issues a Product Change Notification (PCN) for every change that affects:
- The SoM's form-fit-function envelope (pinout, dimensions, electrical characteristics).
- The factory-shipped firmware image.
- Materials or substances in the SoM's BOM (RoHS, REACH, halogen-free, conflict-minerals).
- Regulatory certifications (FCC, CE/RED, ISED, MIC).
- Production location or assembly partner.
PCNs are published as numbered documents (PCN-<family>-<NNN>) and notified to active customers by email at least 90 days before the change takes effect, unless the change is regulatory-mandated with a shorter compliance window.
No PCNs have been issued for any Alp Lab SoM family at the time of this revision. PCNs, once issued, will be linked from this document and from the affected SoM's datasheet.
Long-Term Supply Agreements
Customers planning to ship ≥ 5,000 modules / year for ≥ 5 years are encouraged to enter a Long-Term Supply Agreement (LTSA) with Alp Lab. An LTSA provides:
- Reserved production capacity against a rolling 12-month forecast.
- Price stability for the agreement duration (CPI-linked, no surprise increases).
- Buffer-stock commitment under a vendor-managed-inventory (VMI) model.
- Extended EOL notice (24 months minimum vs 12 months default).
- Priority access to engineering-sample batches of upcoming SKUs.
LTSA terms are negotiated case-by-case. Contact sales@alplab.ai to start the conversation.
Spare-Parts & RMA Policy
For every shipped module, Alp Lab maintains a repair / replacement supply chain for the full 10-year availability period. After EOL, spare-parts availability is governed by the LTB inventory acquired before the LTB cut-off.
The Alp Lab warranty covers manufacturing defects for two years from date of shipment. RMA requests are processed through support@alplab.ai.
Environmental & Regulatory Continuity
Alp Lab undertakes to maintain the following compliance posture across every SoM revision for the full production-availability period:
- RoHS 3 (EU 2015/863) compliance.
- REACH (EC 1907/2006) declaration of any SVHC concentration ≥ 0.1 %.
- Conflict-minerals reporting per Dodd-Frank §1502.
- Halogen-free per IEC 61249-2-21 (where the original SKU is halogen-free).
- Industry certifications (FCC ID, CE/RED, ISED, MIC) renewed for any change that triggers a new certification cycle.
Contact
For any longevity, supply-chain, or LTSA conversation:
- Sales: sales@alplab.ai
- Support: support@alplab.ai
- Web: alplab.ai
Revision History
Table: Document revision history
| Revision | Changes | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 0.1 | Initial publication of the Alp Lab lifecycle commitment for the E1M and E1M-X families. | May 2026 |