One Test Is Not Always Enough


To improve yield, quality, and cost, two separate test parameters can be combined to determine if a part passes or fails. The results gleaned from that approach are more accurate, allowing test and quality engineers to fail parts sooner, detect more test escapes, and ultimately to improve yield and reduce manufacturing costs. New data analytic platforms, combined with better utilization of s... » read more

Don’t Let X Be A Problem For Logic BIST


By Rahul Singhal and Giri Podichetty A failure in the operation of integrated circuits (ICs) or chips deployed in safety-critical applications such as automotive, medical, and aerospace could have catastrophic consequences. These failures could stem from defects in the chip that escaped manufacturing tests or from transient faults that can occur during system operation due to factors such as... » read more

PCB And IC Technologies Meet In The Middle


Surface-mount technology (SMT) is evolving far beyond its roots as a way of assembling packaged chips onto printed circuit boards without through-holes. It is now moving inside packages that will themselves be mounted on PCBs. But SMT for advanced packages isn’t the same as the SMT we’ve been used to. “Many systems include multiple ASICs, a lot of memory, and that's all integrated i... » read more

Packetized Test At The International Test Conference 2021


At this year’s International Test Conference (October 10-15, 2021), Siemens Digital Industries Software is showcasing IC test and lifecycle management technologies that address the key scaling challenges facing the semiconductor industry now and in the future. The two main topics from Tessent at ITC are: The rapid adoption of packetized test strategies to address design and system... » read more

Challenges With Chiplets And Packaging


Semiconductor Engineering sat down to discuss IC packaging technology trends, chiplets, shortages and other topics with William Chen, a fellow at ASE; Michael Kelly, vice president of advanced packaging development and integration at Amkor; Richard Otte, president and CEO of Promex, the parent company of QP Technologies; Michael Liu, senior director of global technical marketing at JCET; and Th... » read more

How To Maximize Your Competitiveness In The Semiconductor Industry Using Advanced DFT


Embarking on advanced SoCs without a smart design-for-test (DFT) strategy can be harmful to your bottom line. Being competitive in today’s semiconductor market means adopting integrated, scalable, and flexible solutions to cut DFT implementation time, test costs, and time-to-market. Tessent DFT technologies, developed in partnership with industry leaders, provide the most advanced DFT and yie... » read more

The Era Of Packetized Scan Test Has Arrived


For decades, process and design scaling has triggered the adoption of transformative test solutions. About twenty years ago, when at-speed test became a de-facto requirement, on-chip compression became the norm to address test data time and volume. Over the last decade, hierarchical DFT enabled DFT engineers to apply a divide and conquer on large design, improving both implementation effort and... » read more

High-Quality Test And Embedded Analytics Are Vital For Secure SoCs


Applications such as smart cards and devices used in the defense industry require security features to ensure that sensitive data is inaccessible to outside agents. This used to be a niche requirement met through custom solutions. However, now that automotive and cyber-physical systems are proliferating, the requirements around secure test and monitoring are becoming mainstream. The current bes... » read more

Designing Chips For Test Data


Collecting data to determine the health of a chip throughout its lifecycle is becoming necessary as chips are used in more critical applications, but being able to access that data isn't always so simple. It requires moving signals through a complex, sometimes unpredictable, and often hostile environment, which is a daunting challenge under the best of conditions. There is a growing sense of... » read more

Power-Aware Test: Addressing Power Challenges In DFT And Test


Integrated circuit (IC) sizes continue to grow as they meet the compute requirements of cutting-edge applications such as artificial intelligence (AI), autonomous driving, and data centers. As design sizes increase, the total power consumption of the chip also increases. While process node scaling reduces a transistor’s size and its operating-voltage, power scaling has not kept up with the si... » read more

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