Week In Review: Manufacturing, Test


Trade wars The trade war between the United States and China is escalating and it is here to stay. Victor Davis Hanson, a senior fellow at think tank Hoover Institution, said the United States is at a crossroads with China. It could define America’s security and the international order for decades to come. Here’s the latest blog on trade tensions between the U.S. and China. “Tensions ... » read more

Impact Of U.S.-China Trade War


The trade war between the United States and China is escalating and it is here to stay. Last year, the Trump administration started the trade war with China for basically two reasons. First, China has a massive trade surplus with the U.S. Second, U.S. companies have been the subject of IP theft in China, which has largely gone unchecked, according to the Trump administration. Many disagre... » read more

Next-Generation Vehicles Pose Automotive Semiconductor Test Challenges


Various market trends are driving requirements for automotive semiconductor test as technology increasingly defines the future of the automobile. According to IHS Markit, the total market for semiconductors, having reached nearly $500 billion in 2018, will grow at a CAGR of 4.88% through 2022, while the automotive electronics category, reaching more than $40 billion in 2018, will outpace the to... » read more

Hidden Soldier Joints Inspection: 4 Case Studies


IC packaging technologies are becoming smaller and thinner. Ball grid array (BGA) packages were introduced some years ago in order to save space on the PCB, and are now widely used. To overcome the resulting problems with using optical microscopy as an inspection tool, the endoscope found its way into quality engineering departments. To read more, click here. » read more

Best Practices For Saving Measurement Data


You collect data to make decisions. However, an inefficient file format may cause problems when analyzing your data. The key to choosing a file format for your application involves thinking about the current system requirements and how the file can adapt for future application needs. To help you organize your file format for your application, use the guide and checklist of questions: • Ho... » read more

Challenges In Making And Testing STT-MRAM


Several chipmakers are ramping up a next-generation memory type called STT-MRAM, but there are still an assortment of manufacturing and test challenges for current and future devices. STT-MRAM, or spin-transfer torque MRAM, is attractive and gaining steam because it combines the attributes of several conventional memory types in a single device. In the works for years, STT-MRAM features the ... » read more

Meeting ISO 26262 Requirements Using Tessent IC Test Solutions


As the industry moves towards greater automation in vehicles, suppliers of the ICs used to drive the automotive electronic systems are rapidly adopting solutions to meet ISO 26262 requirements. The Tessent family of IC test products offers the highest defect coverage, in-system non-destructive memory test, hybrid ATPG/Logic BIST, and analog test coverage measurement. These technologies add up t... » read more

Gaps Emerge In Automotive Test


Demands by automakers for zero defects over 18 years are colliding with real-world limitations of testing complex circuitry and interactions, and they are exposing a fundamental disconnect between mechanical and electronic expectations that could be very expensive to fix. This is especially apparent at leading-edge nodes, where much of the logic is being developed for AI systems and image se... » read more

Making AI More Dependable


Ira Leventhal, vice president of Advantest’s new concept product initiative, looks at why AI has taken so long to get going, what role it will play in improving the reliability of all chips, and how to use AI to improve the reliability of AI chips themselves. » read more

IP Requires System Context At 6/5/3nm


Driven by each successive generation of semiconductor manufacturing technology, complexity has reached dizzying levels. Every part of the design, verification and manufacturing is more complicated and intense the more transistors are able to be packed onto a die. For these reasons, the entire system must be taken into consideration as a whole – not just as individual building blocks as could ... » read more

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