Active production, no end-of-life watch
Texas Instruments lists the SN74HCS125QBQARQ1 as Active — no NRND flag, no last-time-buy window on the horizon. This is a current-production part safe to specify into a new BOM without a near-term respin risk.
Automotive grade means the full temperature band
AEC-Q100 qualification and the -55°C to 125°C operating range together mean this buffer is screened for the under-hood thermal profile — an ECU seeing 105°C on a summer grade still has margin. The 2V to 6V supply rail covers both 3.3V and 5V logic domains in the same vehicle architecture without a separate level translator. Schmitt-trigger inputs reject the slow edges from a mechanical switch or a long harness run — the hysteresis band prevents the output from chattering as the signal crosses the threshold. The 7.8 mA output drive is light; plan for fan-out of only a few downstream gates or a single microcontroller input.
Package and footprint for the layout review
14-WQFN measuring 3.0 x 2.5 mm with an exposed thermal pad. The pad needs a thermal via array to the ground plane to keep the junction temperature down when all four buffers are switching near the 125°C limit. The 0.5 mm pitch demands a 2-layer board with careful trace routing under the package.