Intel C2000 Atom seems to be bricking networking products

Intel suffers from a stroke of bad luck as a circuit degradation problem with the Atom C2000 seems to be bricking Cisco networking gear. The latter used the Atom C2000 in routing, optical networking, security and switch products and warns that products sold prior to November 16, 2016 are likely to fail at an accelerated rate after just 18 months of operation.

Cisco did not publicly name the supplier but some detective work by The Register points to the Intel Atom C2000 as a January 2017 revision to this chip's documentation indicates it has a clock flaw that can permanently stop the chip from working, which is precisely what Cisco says may happen to the affected networking devices given enough time.

Intel indicated in a January 2017 revision of its Atom C2000 family documentation that the chip line contains a clock flaw. Errata note AVR.54, titled "System May Experience Inability to Boot or May Cease Operation," explains that the Atom C2000 Low Pin Count bus clock outputs (LPC_CLKOUT0 and LPC_CLKOUT1) may stop functioning. Permanently.

An Intel spokesperson in an email to The Register characterized the issue as "a degradation of a circuit element under high use conditions at a rate higher than Intel’s quality goals after multiple years of service."

"If the LPC clock(s) stop functioning the system will no longer be able to boot," Intel's documentation explains.