SoC testers address altered workflow

Credence Systems Corp. said its Octet platform will meet future test requirements for computer, communications and consumer electronics SoCs.

"With the rapid proliferation of advanced SoC designs, semiconductor manufacturers are increasingly looking for a test platform strategy that will help lower test costs and decrease time-to-volume through efficient design-to-production workflows," said Ed Wagner, senior vice president and general manager of Credence's Consumer Mixed-Signal Products Division. "Octet addresses these requirements through its configurable platform and powerful software tools."

Production shipments of the Octet configurable SoC platform are scheduled for the fourth quarter. Octet' s standard 1,024-pin architecture can be configured with options for multiple data rate digital test capability, high-speed serial test, and a full suite of analog instrumentation. Octet is compatible with Credence's Quartet Series through the use of existing load boards and test programs.

Octet's integrated software suite includes test development software and virtual test and debug tools from Integrated Measurement Systems Inc., a Credence company, and thus is optimized for design-to-production test.

Octet's Program Developer software provides a graphical user interface, which enables the software modules in the suite to share a single interface for all test program development tasks, thus saving programming time by eliminating unnecessary steps, the company said.

Wagner said that Credence is addressing the needs of companies that outsource assembly and test to the Asia-Pacific region to help reduce costs and speed delivery of SoCs. "We believe that Octet's highly configurable pla tform and compatibility with Quartet make it an ideal test platform for the OSAT [outsourcing of assembly and test] and foundry markets throughout Asia and the rest of the world," Wagner said.

Meanwhile, Advantest America Inc., a subsidiary of Advantest Corp., has announced further details of its Certimax design validation test system for SoCs.

The equipment uses original design data without the need for translation into a test format and thus can do functional validation debug and characterization faster that would otherwise be possible, the company said.

Advantest said that no tester has integrated EDA verification tools with a test system in such a way until the Certimax machine, which began shipping in July at prices starting at $482,000.