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Posted in Top Stories

Next-Generation Vehicles Pose Automotive Semiconductor Test Challenges

By Jerry Koo, Advantest Korea Co., Ltd., Business Promotion Division, Team Leader

Introduction

Various market trends are driving requirements for automotive semiconductor test as technology increasingly defines the future of the automobile. According to IHS Markit,1 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 total market, growing at a CAGR of 8.74% through 2022.

This market growth accompanies a paradigm shift toward the technologies that define the future of next-generation vehicles.

Alternative propulsion systems include hybrid and EV drivetrains and will require a new charging/refueling infrastructure, possibly including wireless charging, and will be accompanied by efficient motor drives, car weight reduction, and a move to 48-V batteries. To ensure high quality, it will be necessary to thoroughly test sensors, MCUs, power devices, power-management ICs, and other related components.

Connected cars will feature IoT, GPS, and cellular connectivity to enable infotainment and telematics functionality while integrating media, smartphones, and apps. Communications will extend beyond the car to other vehicles and infrastructure and to datacenters in the cloud.

Vehicles will also require various highly accurate sensors to enable ADAS and fully autonomous vehicle functionality. Complementing cloud connectivity will be high-speed networks within the car and onboard high-performance computing. Technologies will evolve from driver assistance in 2015 to automation (with the car operating as a copilot) driven by sensor fusion in 2020 and on to fully autonomous operation in 2030.

All these technologies will impose on auto manufacturers cost-management and product-planning challenges on the factory floor, in the car, and throughout the supply chain, leading to zero defects from the process to the field.

High voltage and parallelism

High-voltage semiconductor processes for automotive propulsion and cost management include 0.32-μm to 1.0-μm high-voltage (700 V) bipolar-CMOS-DMOS (BCD), 0.18-μm to 0.32-μm (200 V/300 V) SOI BCD, and 0.18-μm to 0.35-μm (80 V/150 V) BCD. Semiconductors fabricated in these processes serve applications areas extending from EV and HEV powertrain to braking, airbag-deployment, and other safety/body functions.

To test such semiconductors, Advantest offers T2000 IPS test modules, including the MMXHE (120 V), the MFHPE (300 V), and the SHV2KV (2,000 V) as well as the EVA100 Evolutionary Value-Added Measurement System, which offers analog VI sources providing outputs to 96 V as well as medium- and high-power VI sources offering outputs to 128 V and 2,000 V, respectively (Figure 1).

Figure 1. T2000 and EVA100 modules facilitate the test of semiconductor devices for a variety of automotive applications, from the powertrain to safety and body systems.

Compared with alternatives, the T2000 MMXHE enhanced multifunction mixed high-voltage module offers a simple board design with high parallelism, including 64 cross-functional ports, offering PMUs, 10-ps-resolution TMUs, 32 digitizer channels, and 32 AWG channels. It supports IDDQ test as well as 20-bit differential voltage measurements.

The T2000 MFHPE multifunctional floating high-power module can operate in single, gang, and stack configurations with up to 18 channels or 36 ports per module to support multisite test.

T2000 IPS supports highly accurate and highly parallel automotive PMIC test, with only two modules able to perform DC/DC converter tests, LDO tests, and MCU I/F functional tests. A key benefit of the T2000 IPS is its minimization of test-board components (such as buffers and electromechanical relays), thereby simplifying PCB design and maintenance (Figure 2).

Figure 2. The T2000 IPS minimizes the number of components required on a test board, thereby easing board design and system maintenance.

Sensor test

Autonomous vehicles present the need to test highly accurate sensors, including CO2 sensors, airbag pressure sensors, vehicle-stability-control (inertial) sensors, and pedestrian pressure sensors. Automotive angle sensors (for electric power steering and integrated starter-generator applications) present particular test challenges, requiring extensive screening to ensure accuracy and reliability. For such applications, the Advantest EVA100 provides the necessary fF and pA testing capabilities.

Electric, hybrid, and plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles also incorporate current sensors to monitor main and auxiliary batteries as well as inverters, motors, and chargers. Conventional methods of testing these sensors, including the use of current clamps or Helmholtz coils, have drawbacks. The Helmholtz-coil method, for example, presents challenges related to magnetic flux intensity and uniformity, and it requires a large chamber (1.5 x 1.5 x 1.5 m) to keep the coils and DUTs at the required -40°C temperature. In contrast, a new high-current sensor-test method based on the Advantest EVA100 offers a 20-fold size reduction (600 x 500 x 300 mm) while testing four DUTs in parallel. The method employs dual-fluid direct temperature control; electromagnets apply guaranteed magnetic flux levels to the DUTs.

SiPs and system-level test

Connected cars are driving a trend toward the increasing integration in automotive modules, SiPs, and SoCs. Such devices increasingly integrate processors and memory as well as imaging, magnetic, or pressure sensors; power devices and MCUs; memory and MCUs; MCUs plus baseband and RF circuits as well as antennas; and motor drivers and MCUs. SiPs present many technical test challenges related to interposer connectivity, warpage, die shifting, die-to-die communications (with marginal timing), limited test ports on the package, package handling, and stress related to level, timing, and processing.

Such highly integrated devices impose stringent test requirements. System-level test (SLT) can play a role in boosting quality, coming after wafer sort and final test and before installation in the end product. However, legacy SLT environments based on rack-and-stack equipment can be cumbersome and slow. In contrast, the Advantest T2000 SLT Solution automates SLT, enabling a compact SLT cell for high-mix low-volume devices or a large-scale SLT cell for ultrahigh-volume production and long SLT times.

Conclusion

From sensors and processors to power-management and motor-controller ICs, semiconductors for next-generation automotive applications will present significant test challenges, including SLT. Advantest’s T2000 IPS and EVA100 systems are available today to meet the test requirements of the devices that will serve in tomorrow’s hybrid, electric, and autonomous vehicles and the infrastructure that supports them.

Reference

1. “Semiconductor Application Forecast AMFT Intelligence Service,” IHS Markit Technology Group, Q4 2018.

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Posted in Top Stories

Looking to the Next (5th) Generation

By Judy Davies, Vice President of Global Marketing Communications, Advantest

The global semiconductor business is constantly on the lookout for the “next big thing”: the mass-market killer app that will drive the next wave of market growth for our industry. While candidates abound – thanks to the continued rise of applications utilizing technologies such as flexible sensors and augmented reality – the new NBT is shaping up to be the next generation of highly efficient 5G mobile networks. Long promised and finally on the cusp of coming to market fruition, 5G will far surpass current 4G LTE technology in both its highs (speed) and lows (latency).

With more than 14 billion connected devices predicted to come into use this year (according to Gartner, Inc.), advanced 5G networks will provide the scalability and energy efficiency necessary to serve the skyrocketing amount of connections. The five major sectors that Advantest sees driving rapid development and adoption of 5G technology are automotive, medical, retail, mobile and Big Data. Each will benefit significantly from 5G’s inherent advantages, which include broader connectivity, speedier response times, greater memory capacity and – everyone’s favorite – longer battery life.

However, the new applications that 5G will enable, such as mobile broadband and massive Internet of Things (IoT) connections, will require new approaches. One key need is network slicing, which entails delivering multiple network instances (such as 4G LTE and 5G) over a single common infrastructure. This technique will provide the flexibility and cost efficiency customers demand while reducing their cost of ownership, as well as facilitating development of new networking products and services.

Another major benefit of 5G is that, while providing much faster signal speeds over greater bandwidths, it will also optimize the benefits associated with lower-speed operation – a “speed as needed” capability, as it were. In the case of IoT devices, 5G allows narrow-spectrum operation in order to achieve connectivity over greater distances while conserving power usage. Connected devices that don’t require constant monitoring, for example, can check in with the network on an as-needed basis so they are not consuming power constantly. This efficiency will go a long way toward preserving and extending battery life.

When 5G is fully implemented, signal latency will drop below 10 milliseconds, yielding network operating speeds up to 100 times faster than what we experience today. This low latency will not only benefit current applications but will also enable numerous next-generation, mission-critical applications, including industrial automation, virtual and augmented reality, online health and medical services, and aerospace and military systems.

Among the aspects of 5G that remain to be worked out is the question of industry standards. Thanks to the massive number of networked IoT devices, connectivity standards must evolve to accommodate much higher connection densities than have ever been required. Specifications indicate that 5G networks will be able to accommodate as many as 1 million connected devices packed into an area of 0.38 square mile, compared to around 2,000 such devices on today’s networks.

Advances must also be made in edge computing to avoid data overload and reduce round-trip latency. Literally, this refers to processing data near the edge of the network on smart devices instead of in a centralized cloud environment. By applying edge computing to information collected by IoT sensors, the findings can be pre-processed and only selected data passed along for central processing. This will aid in managing the immense increase in data that is coming with 5G.

The good news is that, despite these remaining hurdles, it’s clear that there is a finish line in sight. In the new 5G world, the winning companies will be those that collaborate and align with their customers to design and create 5G components that will enable the fast-approaching new world of computing and communications.

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Posted in Upcoming Events

VOICE 2019 Features Comprehensive Technical Program and Exciting Keynoters

Singapore event to feature keynote by Mark Stuart, Co-Founder of Anagram Group; Wally Rhines and Hugh Herr to keynote in Scottsdale

For the first time, the Advantest VOICE Developer Conference will be held in Scottsdale, Arizona, on May 14-15, 2019, and in Singapore on May 23. Online registration is available for both venues.  

VOICE 2019 will feature the latest and hottest topics in semiconductor testing, including RF, 5G, 4G, WiFi, MIMO, mmWave and a new technical track dedicated to Advantest’s T2000 platform. The heart of the conference continues to be its comprehensive learning and networking opportunities comprised of a technical program featuring more than 90 presentations; Partners’ Expo; social gatherings; Technology Kiosk Showcase; and innovative keynote speakers.

On May 15 in Scottsdale, the VOICE program will feature two keynote speeches by dynamic leaders. The first speaker, Dr. Wally Rhines, CEO emeritus of Mentor, a Siemens business, is a recognized spokesperson for the semiconductor and EDA industries. The second keynote, sponsored by EAG Eurofins Engineering Science, will be given by Dr. Hugh Herr, renowned engineer, biophysicist and leader of MIT Media Lab’s Biomechatronics Group. Dr. Herr is building the next generation of robotic prosthetics, sophisticated devices that aid human movement by mimicking nature.

For VOICE Singapore, the featured keynote speech will be delivered by Mark Stuart, Co-Founder of Anagram Group, an award-winning global corporate training company based in Singapore working to transform organizations through innovation. Stuart works with more than 170 government and corporate clients in Singapore, Asia and the UK in a wide range of industries.

Register for VOICE 2019 today! Group discounts are available to attend VOICE 2019; email mktgcomms@advantest.com for details. Those interested in attending the Singapore event should email mktgcomms@advantest.com for registration information.

Registered Scottsdale attendees are encouraged to make their hotel reservations at the Boulders Resort & Spa before the discount ends on April 10. Those interested in hotel reservations at the Shangri-La Singapore should email mktgcomms@advantest.com for more information.

VOICE 2019 Quick Links

Registration
Agenda
Technical Program
Hotel Reservations
Sponsors
Spread the Word About VOICE

Questions: mktgcomms@advantest.com

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Posted in Featured Products

High-Volume Consumer Devices Need High-Voltage Test Solution

by Anthony Lum, Business Development Manager, Advantest Corp.

If you’ve been increasingly feeling that your home doesn’t have enough electrical outlets for all of the consumer products you’re amassing, you’re not alone. As our hunger for consumer devices grows, so does our need for more AC-power wall outlets. The common denominator between large entertainment hubs, wearable and portable devices, and smart-home hubs/accessories is the need for AC power – either as a constant source or for on-demand recharging. Hand-in-hand with this requirement comes the need for reliable testing to protect these devices by ensuring their power supplies can handle the associated high voltage.

Most devices that plug into AC outlets need a power testing solution that can accommodate voltage as high as 2,000 volts (or 2 kilovolts). This is vital worldwide: both in industrialized countries, where the power supply is stable and reliable; and in developing nations, where little to no regulation exists on the power-supply side. In these regions, power surges and glitches that can damage or destroy an end product are not uncommon. As these devices are manufactured in high volumes, the more you have, the more important it is to preclude surging and overheating.

Enabling high-voltage testing

Previously, there have been two options for those seeking a high-voltage semiconductor test solution. Testing at-voltage, while the most accurate approach, incurred a premium cost for the device on the part of the chip manufacturer because it required building special, costly test equipment or using antiquated test systems as the high voltage source, but traded off quality of other functions and tests. Less costly: guaranteed-by-design ICs that weren’t tested in production because the chip provider deemed the added test costs not worth the investment internally. This requires trusting that the design will work in all circumstances without real-world testing to back it up. Monolithic ICs may contain multiple discrete power devices in a single package, further increasing the need for accurate, preventive testing.

Advantest has developed a cost-effective solution that achieves real-time testing in situations where testing wasn’t previously performed. A new module for its EVA100 measurement system allows testing of these high-power ICs deployed for large-volume consumer applications. This includes the power FET at the heart of all AC/DC and DC/DC converters.

The HVI (high-voltage VI [voltage-current] source and measurement module) ensures the reliability of power devices used in applications such as AC/DC or DC/DC converters (behind which are power field-effect transistors, or FETs) and LED drivers, as well as motor controllers, gate drivers and intelligent power modules (IPMs). It does this by accurately measuring their current leakage and breakdown voltages, utilizing unique capabilities designed into the module.

The HVI possesses a digital loopback architecture, which allows glitch-free changing of current or voltage mode, or range switching, on the fly. This is important because the test range isn’t a straight path from 0 to 1,000 (or 2,000) volts; there is an intermediate range that must be accommodated. The HVI module handles measurement across the entire voltage range with no spikes, yielding faster test times and more accurate results.

The HVI module excels at testing the breakdown voltage of power devices that go into AC/DC converters, i.e., the amount of voltage the device can sustain before it short circuits. Since manufacturers typically guarantee their products up to 800 volts, the module allows immediate ramp-up to 800-850 volts in order to ensure the device can sustain the breakdown voltage without failing (see Figure 1). Monitoring over time is key, as this allows the module to recognize variations in time and current as voltage increases, thus achieving more accurate test results.

Figure 1: This plot, in which two 800V ramps are overlaid on top of each other, provides an example of glitch-free voltage source measurement performed by the EVA 100 HVI module.

When using a single channel, the HVI module expands the EVA100 voltage coverage up to 1,000 volts with a current range of +8 milliamps or +20 milliamps of pulsed power.  By stacking the voltage source, the module enables tester coverage as high as 2,000 volts.  This ganging also enables the EVA100 to handle devices with a current range of +16 milliamps up to +40 milliamps of pulsed power.

In addition, the HVI module features digitizers on both the voltage and current source lines. This construct allows the EVA 100 to sample and monitor both current and voltage simultaneously, in real time, to provide profiling and device response under stressed high-voltage tests (see Figure 2). Prior competitive solutions using a rack-and-stack architecture without a digitizer were unable to obtain real-time results.

Figure 2: This chart illustrates two distinct behaviors of devices under test (DUTs) while under high-voltage stress. The top instance shows a small current glitch when ramping past 600V (blue line), while the bottom instance shows a more typical current response above 600V (red line).

The HVI module’s four-quadrant/four-wire solution allows the user to source/sink current and source/sink voltage all in one unit. Each channel has four wires: force, force sense, ground, and ground sense. To accommodate voltage dropout, the sense lines need to test voltage as close to the source as possible. Figure 3 shows a typical test setup in which the HVI module is able to test four DUTs simultaneously, alerting the user if absolute maximum ratings are reached, i.e., parameter values or ranges that can cause permanent damage if exceeded.

Figure 3: The typical HVI test scenario shown here is a small-pin-count AC/DC converter with four DUTs.

Advantest’s proven EVA100 tester marries the company’s ATE and benchtop expertise to deliver a monolithic, scalable benchtop measurement system in a compact footprint. The HVI module, which integrates quickly and seamlessly with the EVA100, expands the tester’s market reach into these fast-growing high-voltage analog/power applications

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Posted in Uncategorized

Q&A Interview with Leslie Tugman, SEMI

By GO SEMI & Beyond staff

As most of us in the electronics manufacturing supply chain are aware, the industry is facing a talent crisis and needs to fill the tech workforce pipeline with employees qualified to perform a plethora of available jobs. In this issue, we talk with Leslie Tugman, SEMI’s Vice President of Global Workforce Development and Diversity, about what SEMI and its member companies, which include Advantest, are doing to address this challenge.

Q. How are SEMI and its High Tech University (HTU) program driving industry workforce development efforts?

A. SEMI has made workforce development and talent advocacy a top priority and dedicated significant resources and expertise to tackle the talent shortage. We offer an extensive suite of programs and initiatives addressing the problem. All are available under our umbrella program called SEMI Works™, a holistic approach to workforce development that includes SEMI High Tech U, our University Connections and SEMI Mentoring programs, and SEMI Certs. These initiatives are anchored by an industry-wide competency model we are developing that will standardize and prioritize industry-acknowledged skills and support training programs linked to the skill sets the industry needs most. 

Right now, the electronics manufacturing supply chain has thousands of jobs that it can’t fill. All of these jobs require skills across science, technology, engineering and/or math (STEM). This need intensifies as technology advances, and many K-12 public school systems around the world aren’t producing enough students with an interest or aptitude for high-tech jobs. The purpose of SEMI HTU is to inspire high-school students to pursue careers in our industry by showing them how these STEM skills are relevant and can be applied in the real world.

We take students out of their traditional classrooms and bring them to an industry site for a three-day intensive course. The company facility becomes their classroom, led by an instructor who works at that site and can tell students how they’ll use what they’re learning. The program combines lectures with hands-on learning and STEM exercises as well as lessons in communication, critical thinking, teamwork, and other career/life skills. The instructors serve as role models and provide a positive industry image.

Q. How do members participate in supporting SEMI’s workforce development programs?

A. There are a number of ways that members can participate in and support SEMI HTU. Members can sponsor HTU through financial and/or in-kind contributions. They can also participate by volunteering to teach a module at an HTU program. Participating in HTU is a great way for companies to support their corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs. SEMI can deliver the program for members, or we can train member companies to be certified partners to deliver the program independently. SEMI is currently delivering two HTU sessions per month around the world.  

Q. How have HTU’s workforce development efforts evolved over the past five years? 

A. The constriction in the semiconductor industry’s talent pipeline didn’t happen overnight; it’s been worsening for some time. In the last several years, a number of factors – including a greater shortage of talent, the shortage of STEM-educated students, biases related to gender and diversity, and the aging workforce – have converged to narrow the pipeline even more. At the same time, the number of job vacancies has skyrocketed. SEMI has become a leader in addressing workforce development in a broad, comprehensive manner. High Tech U, our mentor program and our diversity/inclusion initiatives focus on employee recruitment and retention.

We also have a University Connections Program that puts companies such as Advantest in contact with recent or imminent graduates so that they can help them understand why the company would be a great place to work. In the past five years, we have really embraced university students and young professionals as part of the audience we want to reach. SEMICON West will again feature a Workforce Development Pavilion that connects members with emerging talent through our HTU mentoring and University Connections programs. This is a significant area of focus at SEMICON West 2019. In addition, this year, we will conduct a High Tech U – which Advantest is co-sponsoring – in a classroom adjacent to the Workforce Development Pavilion.

It’s important to note that SEMI offers global workforce development initiatives. The need to fill thousands of industry jobs is global, although causes differ by region. For example, the aging workforce is a critical factor in Japan, lagging STEM skills are a key issue in the U.S., while shoring up the industry’s image in terms of diversity and inclusion is an issue worldwide. We tie this all together with a Workforce Development Council in each region that provides guidance and validation of our initiatives.

Q. Clearly, providing inclusive work environments will be vital to attracting new workers. How are you helping members rethink their corporate culture in this regard?

A. This is a critical component in terms of attracting future tech workers. Our CEO, Ajit Manocha, is passionate about diversity and inclusion. These kinds of efforts can fail when they don’t have executive support, and he is making this a top priority.

Mentoring is an important element in recruiting and retaining women in the workforce. Our new Spotlight on SEMI Women program honors women who are working at SEMI member companies and making a difference at every level. At SEMICON West, we will be celebrating our spotlight women at the welcome reception.

We also hold diversity forums on various topics – including unconscious bias and the importance of collecting data – to aid member companies in effecting internal change. Members like Advantest have been instrumental in supporting these efforts. In addition to its HTU sponsorship and partnering in workforce development, Advantest is active on both our Workforce Development Council and our Diversity and Inclusion Council.

Q. How can readers get involved?

A. There are a variety of ways to involve your company in SEMI educational activities. Here are a few specifics to pique your interest:

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