The ChipWhisperer Lite is NewAE’s entry-level side-channel analysis platform.※ It’s a USB-powered board that captures sample-synchronous power traces from a target device and lets you run DPA/CPA attacks on the result. The hardware is open: schematics, Gerbers, and BOM all live upstream under CC-BY-SA.↗
Open hardware is wonderful until the BOM rots. The reference design dates to ~2015, and a lot of the DigiKey lines came back out-of-stock when I tried to order in 2025. That’s residual fallout from the 2021–2022 chip-supply mess, plus the usual attrition of passives drifting to new reel codes. So I re-sourced the parts that wouldn’t ship, swapped the Mini-USB for USB-C while I had the footprints open, and sent the whole thing off to JLCPCB. I’m writing it up in case anyone else wants to do the same.
BOM Substitutions
Most of the substitutions are boring. They’re LCSC’s parametric equivalents of DigiKey-OOS parts where the only real difference is the reel code (CRCW04021K00FKED → …FKEE, that sort of thing). The 0402/0603 passives account for about ten of these; they’re value-identical and not worth enumerating in the prose.
Full list of parametric passive subs
Same value, same footprint, same tolerance, just a different reel suffix or a pick from LCSC’s house catalog:
| Original | Sub |
|---|---|
CL10C100JB8NCNC (10 pF, 0603) | CL10C100JB8NNNC |
CL10C220JB8NCNC (22 pF, 0603) | CL10C220JB8NNNC |
CL10C101JB8NCNC (100 pF, 0603) | CL10C101JB8NNNC |
CRCW04021K00FKED (1 kΩ, 0402) | CRCW04021K00FKEE |
TNPW060333R0BEEA (33 Ω, 0603) | LCSC C2075703 |
TNPW0603274RBEEA (274 Ω, 0603) | LCSC C1870331 |
PRTR5V0U2AX,215 (ESD array) | PRTR5V0U2AX,235 |
Several Murata GRM188 / GRM155 ceramics were DigiKey-OOS too, so I pulled value-identical stock from LCSC. Full part numbers in the spreadsheet.
The interesting ones are the cross-brand subs, where the original was OOS everywhere and I had to pick a different vendor:
| Ref | Original | Sub | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| C50, C51 | TDK C1005C0G1H180J050BA (18pF) | TDK CGA2B2C0G1H180JT0Y0F | Crystal load caps. C0G/NP0, same 0402 footprint and tolerance, just a different part family.※ |
| L11 | TDK HK1005R12J-T (120nH) | Murata LQG15HHR12G02D | OOS at both DK and LCSC. 0402 wirewound at the same inductance and SRF. |
| L2, L3 | Bourns SRN3015-3R3M (3.3µH) | TDK VLS3015ET-3R3M | Same VLS3015 footprint, equivalent saturation current and DCR.¶ |
| U8 | Infineon IRF7807ZTRPBF | Vishay Si4134DY | DigiKey OOS. Dual N-channel MOSFET in SO-8. RDS(on), VGS(th), and pinout all line up for the low-side switching role. |
Everything else in the updated BOM is a parametric drop-in sourced from LCSC.!
Every line carries both a DigiKey and an LCSC part number with current unit pricing, so you can pick whichever vendor is cheapest, or actually has stock, on the day you order.¶ Download the spreadsheet below and sort on whichever price column you care about.
USB-C Mod
Mini-USB is the kind of connector where you spend 2025 hunting for cables in a drawer full of Micro-USB. The CW Lite is bus-powered at 5 V and doesn’t negotiate USB-PD, so the mod is trivial on paper: swap the receptacle footprint, pull the two CC lines to ground through 5.1 kΩ each, and the host hands over a plain 5 V / default-current contract.※
In practice the fiddly part is the footprint itself. The USB-C receptacle is physically bigger than Mini-USB, so silkscreen, keep-outs, and via placement around the connector all need rework. The updated Eagle files on the repo have the changes.
Ordering
For PCB fabrication I’d send the Gerbers to JLCPCB and pay the small upcharge for ENIG finish.※ The CW Lite has a TQFP144 Spartan-6 and a pile of 0402 passives. Nothing exotic, but flat gold pads make the first reflow go much better than HASL.
The repo contains both the stock 4-layer board (the original NewAE stack-up, with the BOM substitutions and USB-C changes) and a 6-layer variant I spun at the same time. JLCPCB’s 6-layer service with ENIG is where the 6-layer version is happiest, but either works fine for everything you’d actually do with a CW Lite.
Grab a stencil at the same time. Placing the 0402s and the TQFP144 by hand without paste is unpleasant.
Files
Direct downloads for the 6-layer revision:
Gerbers, drill, paste stencil, and pick-and-place. Ready to upload to JLCPCB or your fab of choice.
BOM with DigiKey and LCSC part numbers plus unit pricing for every line.
Schematics, Eagle sources, the 4-layer variant, and the full change history live at kevihiiin/chipwhisperer-capture. Open an issue if anything’s wrong.