Advantest to Feature New SOC and NAND Test Solutions at SEMICON West

Advantest Corporation (TSE: 6857, NYSE: ATE), the world’s leading supplier of semiconductor test equipment, today announced it will showcase the latest additions to its portfolio of IC test solutions during SEMICON West 2011, July 12-14. The company will feature products and solutions that help to lower the cost of test and boost productivity for a variety of SOC applications, including an Enhanced Performance Package (EPP) for multi-functional ICs such as those used in mobile devices, and an Integrated Power Solution (IPS) for power ICs used in automotive and consumer electronics. Advantest will also introduce two new solutions that together offer total test support for next-generation, high-efficiency, high-speed NAND flash memory devices, from front to back end. The company’s T5773 is a high-parallel, high-efficiency NAND flash package tester, and the new HA5100CELL, is a new one-touch, 4 wafer parallel test solution for NAND flash wafer test. These solutions and more will be displayed in booth 6665, at Moscone Center’s North Hall.

Keith Lee, president and CEO of Advantest America, Inc., commented, "To keep pace with the downward pricing pressures that define the current market environment, our customers are calling for lower cost, but reliable, high-volume test solutions for devices that are both complex and dense. We are pleased to be able to continue our long history of delivering technically superior test solutions, and understand that in today’s fab flow, particularly with increasing semiconductor varieties and complexities, the ability to test and know the integrity of devices in a production environment is critical. We stay committed to providing our customers a competitive cost of ownership through innovative technology, reliability and cost-effective test solutions.”

Advantest’s commitment to innovative R&D further elevates SoC ATE performance

The T2000 ‘s Enhanced Performance Package (EPP) delivers distributed instrument and test execution control which achieves the ATE industry’s highest available multisite parallel efficiency as well as the easiest path to true-concurrent mixed-signal test operation. Combined with the T2000’s existing test-time advantages and instrument density leadership, this capability extends the T2000’s COT leadership. Additional EPP technological capabilities add rapid design-flow support for verification and characterization processes by accepting higher-level programming input – effectively abstracting conventional vector programs into higher level frame and packet interactions at the protocol level.

In addition to the EPP, Advantest is showcasing a new set of multi-functional instruments including the 1GDM, the DPS90A and the GPWGD, providing the instrument density required to achieve the highest parallel testing and integration of multiple functions into one module, helping to reduce the overall cost of test and provide the widest test coverage for complex SOCs.

With the Enhanced Performance Package and instrumentation, Advantest and the T2000 once again raise the industry standard for throughput, COT, and time-to-market.

EP Package: Features

Multi-Site CPU Configuration

The T2000 drives the industry’s highest multisite parallel efficiency, making multisite CoT reduction easier than ever.

Concurrent Test Function

‘Instrument Slicing’ Bus and distributed computing architecture within the EP Package enables simultaneous execution of multiple test flows for dramatic test time reduction and easy correlation of concurrent test flows.

Functional Test Abstraction

Execution of system level design verification programs within the T2000 to reduce device debug/characterization timetables.

New Modules:

1GDM

Advantest’s new 1GDM module incorporates 256 channels, 256M Pattern Memory, dual mode sequencers for Protocol and conventional pattern execution, data rates up to 1.1Gbps, built-in histogram engine and multi-bank capture memory for mixed signal testing

DPS90A

The DPS90A is a 64 channel universal DPS and VI source combined into one module. DPS90A combines the capabilities of three current generation instruments into one providing the widest device test coverage at the lowest COT ideal for production test houses

GPWGD

The GPWGD is a general purpose arbitrary waveform generator and digitizer module consolidating the functions of two previously available modules into a single highly integrated configuration, enabling test of high-performance audio and video devices.

Integrated power device solution for multifunctional power ICs

Advantest’s Integrated Power Device Test Solution (IPS) incorporates a high-power module, a Matrix Module and a High-Voltage Mixed-Signal Module that deliver a comprehensive, configurable solution for "one-stop” test of multifunctional power Ics such as those used in automotive and consumer electronics. The solution is supported by a dedicated set of software-tools developed to serve the specific test requirements of this industry. The new solution provides easy and efficient multisite testing of power devices within the open-architecture T2000 environment, meeting an urgent need for cost-effective power device reliability test.

The IPS solution combines multiple test functions on one module, enabling multisite test capability 4x greater than previously achieved. This level of functionality becomes more critical as the number of pins on a given device increase in proportion to the number of chips incorporated into automobiles to improve passenger safety, convenience and in-car entertainment With Advantest’s new power device test solutions, manufacturers can now customize their test systems with a High-Power Module, a High-Voltage Mixed Signal Module and a Matrix Module to enable devices with a range of pin counts to be tested with an optimal configuration.

NAND flash test solutions offering total device test support from wafer test to volume production

• HA5100CELL for front-end NAND flash test

The Harmonic Architecture (HA) platform is another industry first from Advantest: an all-in-one wafer test solution that combines a tester and prober in a single tool, and four test cells into one. With the capability to test four wafers at once, the HA5100CELL is a dedicated NAND flash memory tester which offers a reduced footprint ¼ the size of previous systems. It boasts an operating frequency range of 100MHz and a maximum parallel test capacity of 6,144 DUTs. These innovations deliver 50% test cost savings over previous test cells. The HA5100CELL utilizes a unique contact compliance technology that enables a one-touch high-volume contact solution. The HA5100ES, an engineering system for R&D device evaluation, is also available.

• T5773 for back-end NAND flash test

Advantest’s T5773 is a package test system for NAND flash memory that supports high-speed interfaces for SSDs, handsets and other applications, meeting the test needs of device types that demand as much as 4X the test speed of previous types. The T5773’s operating frequency range is 200MHz / 400Mbps, while the system offers a parallel test capacity of over 768 DUTs. Additionally, the T5773’s innovative design achieves significant power and floorspace savings, helping to lower customer test costs dramatically. Advantest also offers the T5773ES, an engineering system for R&D use.

Technical program participation

Advantest will be active in the technical program at Semicon West, with A.T. Sivaram delivering a presentation at Wednesday’s TechXpot session, Test in Transition: Emerging Test, Solutions and Technologies. Mr. Sivaram’s presentation is titled, "New Test System Architecture to Improve Test Methodologies,” and will be delivered at 4:00pm. Also during Semicon West, Advantest’s Gary Fleeman, director of business development, will serve on a panel at IEEE’s annual ATE Vision 2020 Workshop. The panel will address the TSV quality imperative, and the need for closer supply-chain collaboration for highest-quality TSV stacks.

About Advantest Corporation

A world-class technology company, Advantest is the leading producer of automatic test equipment (ATE) for the semiconductor industry and a premier manufacturer of measuring instruments used in the design and production of electronic instruments and systems. Its leading-edge systems and products are integrated into the most advanced semiconductor production lines in the world. The company also focuses on R&D for emerging markets that benefit from advancements in nanotech and terahertz technologies, and has recently introduced critical dimension scanning electron microscopes essential to photomask manufacturing, as well as a groundbreaking 3D imaging and analysis tool. Founded in Tokyo in 1954, Advantest established its first subsidiary in 1982, in the USA, and now has subsidiaries worldwide. More information is available at www.advantest.com.