WFA Foundry Partner (channel to AutoPhi)

WFA-FOUNDRY-PARTNER — Production-Quantity Silicon Path ($4,999,999)

The vertically integrated tier. Everything in the BLUEPRINT-PACK, plus the channel to AutoPhi as the contract foundry for WFA-design fabrication, plus end-to-end inventor hand-holding through first silicon, qualification, and entry into production. WFA-FOUNDRY-PARTNER is engineered for the original-equipment manufacturer or original-design manufacturer (OEM / ODM) whose business depends on shipping vertically integrated WiFi Accelerator-class product at production volumes — and who wants the inventor as their architecture partner, AutoPhi as their fabrication partner, and the WFA design as their shipping silicon, all under one umbrella engagement structured as a multi-year master services agreement (MSA).

What this tier is and what it is not

What it is: a structured engagement between three parties — the buyer (the OEM or ODM), the inventor (architecture and reference-design holder), and AutoPhi (Chris Gabriel Brown's independent foundry operation, engaged here as a contract fabrication partner). The buyer pays the listed engagement fee; the inventor delivers the WFA reference design; AutoPhi delivers fabricated silicon at terms negotiated under the foundry sub-agreement, at AutoPhi's published fabrication pricing, plus the silicon volume the buyer commits to take. The buyer ships products under the buyer's own brand into the buyer's own market; the inventor remains the WFA design-house architect for the duration of the engagement; AutoPhi remains a separate company-shaped operation with its own catalog, valuation, and customer base outside this engagement.

What it is not: an exclusive arrangement. The inventor retains the right to engage other buyers under FOUNDRY-PARTNER engagements simultaneously. AutoPhi retains the right to accept fabrication work from other customers (WFA-related or not). The buyer does not become the WFA design-house; the buyer's SKUs are built around WFA, but WFA the design remains the inventor's. The buyer does not acquire any AutoPhi process know-how; AutoPhi remains a separate company-shaped operation with its own technology base.

Who this tier is for

The high-volume OEM whose roadmap commitment requires a multi-year supply of WiFi Accelerator silicon under reliable terms, a clear single-throat-to-choke architecture relationship, and a known foundry partner. The hyperscale-edge operator standing up custom radio hardware at a quantity that justifies a vertically integrated supply chain. The defense or industrial-controls house whose end customers (governments, large enterprises, regulated industries) require a documented supply chain and a single accountable architecture authority. The strategic acquirer who anticipates adopting the WFA reference design across multiple business units and wants the engagement structured at the corporate level.

Not for the buyer who is still evaluating (WFA-SPEC), whose firmware team needs only protocol verification (WFA-DEV-KIT), or whose program is a single-product-line build with no production-volume silicon commitment (WFA-BLUEPRINT-PACK is the right tier). Not for the buyer who needs an exclusive arrangement (the FOUNDRY-PARTNER tier is non-exclusive by design; the inventor reserves the right to engage other buyers in parallel).

What you get at this tier

• Everything in WFA-BLUEPRINT-PACK — the schematic, the RTL specification, the DV vector library, the host-side reference driver source, the integration guide, the bring-up bench plan, the WFA-SPEC and WFA-DEV-KIT-equivalent documentation.
• The introduction to AutoPhi as the contract foundry for WFA-design fabrication. AutoPhi engages the buyer under a separate foundry sub-agreement covering process node selection, mask set, wafer pricing per volume tier, packaging, qualification, and delivery schedule. AutoPhi is responsible for its own commercial terms with the buyer; the inventor introduces the parties, transfers the frozen design package to AutoPhi as the contract foundry, and acts as the architecture authority during the program.
• End-to-end inventor program management through first silicon. Weekly written program-status updates from the inventor to the buyer's program manager. Architectural decision-record (ADR) maintenance for every material decision made during the engagement. Direct inventor involvement in design reviews (one per phase: host-board layout, RTL freeze, DV closure, foundry hand-off, first-silicon bring-up, qualification readiness).
• Two years of inventor email support and program engagement from the date of delivery, encompassing the typical eighteen-to-thirty-six-month silicon program plus an early-production runway. The two-year window extends the BLUEPRINT-PACK's one-year support by a full additional year. Renewal beyond two years is negotiated per buyer.
• Five on-site-equivalent virtual reviews during the two years — one at design kick-off, one at RTL freeze, one at foundry hand-off, one at first silicon, one at qualification readiness. Each is a fifteen-plus-page written technical-review report from the inventor based on the buyer's submitted artifacts and the program's current state.
• The bring-up bench partnership. The inventor remains email-reachable through the entire first-silicon bring-up phase. The bring-up bench plan (delivered as part of the BLUEPRINT-PACK content) becomes a working checklist; the inventor reads each verification result the buyer's team produces, signs off when satisfied, and flags any deviation worth discussing.
• Qualification-program review. When the buyer is ready to enter FCC Part 15 testing and (optionally) Wi-Fi Alliance trademark cert, the inventor reviews the buyer's qualification plan in writing and produces a written opinion on readiness.
• The right to use "WiFi Accelerator Inside" or equivalent marketing language on the buyer's product, with the inventor's approval of the specific marketing copy before publication. The right does not include the inventor's logo or the WiFi Accelerator brand mark — those remain the inventor's property and are arranged separately if the buyer wants them.

The three-party relationship in writing

The FOUNDRY-PARTNER engagement is structured as a master services agreement (MSA) between the buyer and the inventor for the WFA design and architecture work, plus a separate foundry sub-agreement between the buyer and AutoPhi for fabrication. The two agreements are coordinated but firewalled: the WFA reference design flows from the inventor to the buyer under the MSA; fabrication process and know-how stay with AutoPhi under the sub-agreement; no source, RTL, or process detail is co-mingled between the two contracts. The buyer's legal team will recognize this as the standard fabless-customer / foundry-partner pattern that is industry-typical; it is the same firewall structure used between any fabless customer and any third-party foundry.

What that means in practical terms for the buyer: two purchase orders, two invoicing streams, two contracts, two relationships — coordinated by the inventor as the program's architecture authority during the two-year support window. The inventor does not bill for AutoPhi work; AutoPhi does not bill for inventor work.

Design-target performance the FOUNDRY-PARTNER program delivers against

The same WFA-line silicon-side design targets that the BLUEPRINT-PACK is the contract for; FOUNDRY-PARTNER is the structured engagement that carries them through to fabricated silicon.

• Deploy-latency p99 — <10 milliseconds (vs ~100 milliseconds commodity).
• mTLS handshake p99 — <1 millisecond (vs ~80 milliseconds commodity).
• Replication throughput — >200 megabytes per second user-visible (vs ~23 megabytes per second commodity).
• Concurrent nodes per radio — 64+ (vs ~8 practical commodity).
• Host CPU at saturation — <10 percent (vs ~70 percent commodity).
• Typical power (Node SKU, 22 nanometer target) — ~150 milliwatts (vs ~600 milliwatts commodity active draw).
• Die area (Node SKU, 22 nanometer target) — ~12 square millimeters.

What is NOT included

• Exclusive arrangement. FOUNDRY-PARTNER is non-exclusive by design. The inventor reserves the right to engage other buyers under FOUNDRY-PARTNER simultaneously. Buyers who require exclusivity should propose a custom engagement (price reflects the exclusivity premium).
• AutoPhi process know-how. AutoPhi remains a separate company-shaped operation; the buyer engages AutoPhi under a foundry sub-agreement and receives fabricated silicon and qualification data, not AutoPhi's process technology.
• AutoPhi's wafer pricing. Fabrication cost is negotiated under the foundry sub-agreement at AutoPhi's published terms, against the buyer's committed volume. The engagement fee for FOUNDRY-PARTNER pays for the WFA-side architecture engagement; it does not pay for silicon.
• Redistribution rights. The buyer cannot resell or redistribute the WFA reference design to third parties.
• Wi-Fi Alliance trademark. The buyer's organization joins WFA membership and conducts per-product cert separately, at the buyer's cost.
• FCC Part 15 certification. Per-product responsibility of the buyer.
• International export licensing. The buyer is responsible for export compliance for any product shipped outside the United States.
• Real-time support. Email and written-document only, including the two-year window and the five virtual reviews.

System requirements for the buyer's program

• An in-house chip-program manager (or equivalent contracted role) accountable to the buyer's executive sponsor.
• An RTL engineering team or contracted RTL house with experience implementing mixed-signal digital blocks against a written specification.
• A board-level hardware team capable of designing the buyer's host product around the WFA-Node pin contract.
• A multi-million-dollar fabrication budget separate from the FOUNDRY-PARTNER engagement fee, negotiated under the foundry sub-agreement with AutoPhi at AutoPhi's terms.
• A path to FCC Part 15 testing and Wi-Fi Alliance cert (in-house, contracted, or via a test-house partner).
• A legal team capable of executing a two-contract structure (MSA with the inventor; foundry sub-agreement with AutoPhi).
• A working email account at which to conduct the two-year support and program-management threads.

How to inquire

FOUNDRY-PARTNER engagements begin with an email exchange, not a Magento "Add to Cart" transaction. Email christopher@cri-one.com with subject WFA — WFA-FOUNDRY-PARTNER. Identify the buyer's organization, the executive sponsor, the program manager, the intended product line, the expected production volume range, the target ship date, and the buyer's foundry-relationship history (relevant for AutoPhi sub-agreement structuring). The inventor responds within one business day with a structured-engagement proposal: payment arrangements for the FOUNDRY-PARTNER fee, an introduction email to AutoPhi for the foundry sub-agreement, draft MSA terms, and a program-kick-off schedule. The engagement fee is paid against the MSA; the foundry sub-agreement is negotiated separately between the buyer and AutoPhi.

Postal contact:
Christopher Gabriel Brown
1341 Wellington Cove
Lawrenceville, GA 30043-5255
United States

Patent-pending. USA-only sales. United States Dollars only. Email-only contact.