Advantest’s new
GPWGD high-resolution module features the industry’s highest analog-performance
digitizer, which supports testing of high-resolution audio digital-to-analog
converters (DACs) embedded in power-management ICs (PMICs) as well as
stand-alone high-resolution audio devices. The module’s innovative measurement
technique performs over an ultra-high dynamic range, achieving unprecedented
accuracy in analog testing from device characterization to mass production
without requiring complex performance boards or additional test and measurement instruments on the
T2000 test platform.
High-resolution audio features both a wider dynamic range and an improved
sound source compared to CDs. The proliferation of electronic devices capable
of supporting high-resolution audio – including smart phones, wireless audio
components for wearable electronics and home theaters, automotive navigation
systems, gaming consoles, 4K and 8K televisions, and other next-generation
products – has led to an increase in the number of PMICs with embedded
digital-to-analog converters (DACs), which require high-dynamic-range testing
with 24-bit or 32-bit resolution.
When used on the T2000 platform, the GPWGD high-resolution moduleprovides the versatility to test both PMICs and high-resolution audio DACs using the same system configuration. This helps users to save on their capital investments while also reducing test cycle times.
The module’s upward compatibility and the high-resolution functionality of
its digitizer enable industry-leading measurements with both a signal-to-noise
ratio (SNR) and a dynamic range (DR) of 130 dB, surpassing the analog
performance of other testers typically used by developers of audio ICs. In
addition, the unit’s massive parallel site testing capability leverages twice
the number of sites compared to other systems on the market, resulting in
higher throughput and a lower cost of test.
The new GPWGD
high-resolution module’s extendible design allows it to be seamlessly integrated into either
laboratory or production environments for existing device types as well as new
high-resolution audio ICs.
Advantest Corporation has extended its V93000 system
to cost-efficiently test the next generation of 5G-NR radio frequency devices
and modules on a single scalable platform.
The new V93000 Wave Scale Millimeter solution has the high multi-site
parallelism and versatility needed for multi-band millimeter-wave (mmWave)
frequencies. The operational range from
24 GHz to 44 GHz and 57 GHz to 70 GHz enables customers to reduce their time to
market for new designs running at mmWave frequencies.
The highly integrated system is architecturally
distinctive from other solutions by providing as many as 64 bi-directional
mmWave ports based on a modular implementation.
This allows not only the use of different 5G and WiGig frequency
modules, but also the addition of new modules as new frequency bands are rolled
out worldwide. Based on an innovative
mmWave card cage with up to eight
mmWave instruments, this highly versatile and cost-effective ATE solution
performs on the level of high-end bench instruments. The scalable system’s wideband testing
functionality gives it the capability to handle full-rate modulation and
de-modulation for ultra-wideband (UWB), 5G-NR mmWave up to 1 GHz, WiGig
(802.11ad/ay) up to 2 GHz and antenna-in-package (AiP) devices in addition to
beamforming and over-the-air testing.
In delivering the industry’s first integrated,
multi-site mmWave ATE test solution, Advantest is providing a pathway for
customers to lower the cost of test for their current and upcoming 5G-NR devices
while leveraging their existing investments in our well-established Wave Scale
RF testers. In particular, OSAT
companies can benefit greatly from this flexible, scalable mmWave ATE solution.
Early installations at customers testing both 5G
and WiGig multi-band devices have been completed. Advantest is now accepting orders for the new
mmWave 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
By Takahiro Nakajima, Senior Expert, Analog/Mixed-signal, Advantest Corp.
Smartphones supporting High-Resolution (Hi-Res) Audio are growing more widely available, enabling consumers to experience high sound quality when streaming music, movies or other content. To accommodate High-Res Audio, these devices integrate an increased number of power management ICs (PMICs) equipped with digital-to-analog converters (DAC), which require high dynamic range testing with 24-bit resolution.
This has, in turn, led to manufacturers’ increased demand for automated test equipment (ATE) with analog performance exceeding a total harmonic distortion (THD) of -130 dBc*, as well as the ability to perform 16 multi-site tests. This article details a solution for achieving both ultrahigh dynamic range performance and 16 multi-site testing.
Figure 1 shows a block diagram of a smartphone. Smartphones incorporate numerous semiconductors to drive power management, connectivity, sensors, displays, audio, cameras, and memory. In recent years, there has been a trend toward integrating the PMIC and audio coder/decoder (CODEC) into a single chip, as the figure illustrates. There has also been an increase in 24-bit resolution DAC, needed for support of Hi-Res Audio.
What isHi-Res Audio?
The Hi-Res Audio specification – defined by the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association (JEITA) – allows a much wider dynamic range than that provided by CDs. A Hi-Res sound source, such as 24 bit / 96 kHz or 24 bit / 192 kHz, is converted to data at a finer resolution than a CD sound source (Figure 2), so it has much more sound information compared to a CD sound source. This means that Hi-Res Audio is as close as possible to the original sound, enabling the listener to experience sound quality comparable to being in a studio or concert hall.
Audio testing
The four test methods required for audio devices are the tests for total harmonic distortion (THD); total harmonic distortion + noise (THD+N); dynamic range (DR); and signal noise ratio (SNR). Each of these tests determines various requirements associated with Hi-Res Audio, and together they create a set of parameters that must be met in order to assure the highest quality audio performance.
Once these tests are completed, frequency weighting is used to obtain measurement values matching the sensitivity of the human ear. The frequencies people hear the best are in the range from 2 to 4 kilohertz (kHz), and sensitivity declines at frequencies that are higher or lower.
A-weighting is commonly used for the weighting network. SNR/DR tests often show analog performance when A-weighting is applied.
Measurement error occurs when measured noise can be calculated from the difference between device performance and measurement instrument performance. For example, if the difference between device performance and measurement instrument performance is 0 dB, the measurement error is 3 dB. If the difference is -5 dB, measurement error is 1.19 dB. This clearly indicates that the better the performance of the measurement instrument, the lower the measurement error.
Advantest solution
The T2000 supports three Mixed-signal modules (GPWGD, BBWGD,8GWGD) as shown in Figure 3.
Advantest has developed a measurement technique with ultrahigh dynamic range to achieve industry-leading levels of analog performance for 24bit DAC solution, by adding high-precision analog circuits such as a band elimination filter (BEF) at the front-end of its T2000 general purpose waveform generator digitizer module (GPWGD).
The target performance for the T2000 solution was set to be 5dB better than target device performance in order to enable analog measurement with higher precision from characterization to mass production (Table 1). The test results performed indicated that the T2000 Integrated Power System (IPS) + GPWGD solution can address multiple challenges associated with Hi-Res audio testing, including high dynamic range measurement, power supply/GND design and isolation, high multi-site testing.
Mobile PMICs require digital, high-precision mixed-signal/analog, and power testing. As a product for automotive/industrial devices and PMICs, the T2000 IPS system can have a number of modules installed, as shown in Table 2. A high-precision analog function can also be added to the front-end of the GPWGD as a 24-bit DAC solution for Hi-Res Audio. For semiconductor manufacturing pre-processing, a wafer prober, probe card, and pogo tower can be combined together. The analog circuits can be equipped with 16 channels by mounting additional analog circuits in the user area on the wafer prober.
Measurement results
On the T2000 platform, analog performance was demonstrated with an ultra-high dynamic range, showing that the platform can achieve results beyond the target performance – as occurred when all of the audio tests listed earlier were conducted. Moreover, the results are consistent and repeatable, as indicated in Figure 4. When measurements were performed 200 times continuously with 16 multi-site tests, a typical THD result of -134 dBc was consistently obtained.
The results detailed in this article indicated that twice the number of multi-site tests can be achieved compared to conventional systems when the T2000 is combined with an IPS and GPWGD module. This makes it possible for the solution to support everything from characterization to mass production for PMICs associated with Hi-Res Audio. Future test efforts will take on the challenge of solutions for 32-bit DACs that require a higher dynamic range.
* dBc = decibels relative to the fundamental carrier power level; standard measurement for total harmonic distortion (THD)
By Derek Floyd, Director of Business Development, Advantest America
The market for power and analog devices is showing strong, consistent growth. Market research firm IC Insights forecasts that revenues for analog products—including both general purpose and application-specific devices—will increase by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.6% to $74.8 billion in 2022 from $54.5 billion in 2017. Power-management analog devices help regulate power usage to keep devices running more efficiently and longer, while the automotive application-specific analog market is the third-fastest growing of 33 IC product categories classified by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS).
With the heavy concentration in industrial and automotive applications, focusing the V93000 scalable platform on analog/power-management devices has proven a successful strategy for Advantest. In looking at where to target the next generation of floating power input voltage (VI) sources, a clear need was evident in three key market areas with high-power requirements: consumer power-management ICs (PMICs) for wireless charging of mobile phones and other smart products; industrial applications; and automotive power devices (see Figure 1).
Figure 1. Top high-power target markets
In the automotive market, the demand for high-quality test necessitates greater test accuracy and stability, together with faster test times and more multisite testing – all enabling reduced costs. At the same time, in the consumer space, higher performance and higher-power electronics are needed to support fast wireless charging, i.e., a great deal of current is quickly dumped into the battery. Advantest meets these requirements with its latest floating power VI source, the FVI16.
Introduced in May, the FVI16 source supplies 250 watts of high-pulse power and up to 40 watts of DC power. These parameters allow the source to enable sufficient power testing of latest-generation devices while conducting stable and repeatable measurements.
Figure 2 illustrates the target applications for the FVI16, with 35- to 150-watt applications being the “sweet spot” for its capabilities. Leading the pack in terms of volumes is fast, wireless charging and USB power delivery, followed by key markets in the automotive and industrial arenas. The growth of autonomous and electric vehicles and more electronic systems on board all new cars will drive continued high demand for automotive devices. The automotive space comprises a wide variety of applications requiring power in the 50-100W range – examples include buck/boost devices, window control, braking and other safety-oriented functions.
Figure 2. FVI16 strategic applications
Key FVI16 Characteristics
The FVI16 source delivers 40W of continuous DC power, as well as 250W of pulse power, on each channel with no interruption and no dropout. This is crucial for operation in high-power environments/applications, and provides a significant advantage compared to competitive offerings. The industry’s most advanced, accurate and highly integrated card, the FVI16 offers more capability on a per-channel basis and a significantly higher level of integration – not to mention twice as many channels as other available sources. In addition, all 16 channels can operate in pulse mode simultaneously, be ganged and/or stacked, and each channel can run either completely independent or completely parallel, depending the user’s application requirements.
Other key characteristics include:
16 fully independent power VI channels (4Q, Kelvin)
-60V … +60V, 3A DC (40W) / 10A Pulse (250W)
18-bit force/measurement accuracy ±200μV / ±10nA
Highly flexible and transparent
Ganging up to ±155A
Stacking up to ±180V
Floating range of ±200V
18-bit 1 Msps AWG and digitizer (voltage and current)
SmartFeatures: Smart Connect/Range/Setting/Mode
Synchronous operation to other channels and digital “domain sync”
16 high-voltage time measurement units (TMU): -60V…+120V / 45MHz
The FVI16 is based on the core digital feedback loop (DFL; see Figure 3) of the existing AVI64 floating source, which has realized significant market success and will continue to compliment customers’ low-power testing requirements. Both systems feature best-in-class accuracy, while the DFL capability enables simultaneous measurement of voltage and current to provide instantaneous power monitoring, and comes with a number of smart features, as noted above, including glitch-free connection, range, and mode settings on the fly in order to prevent damage to devices.
Figure 3. FVI16 digital feedback loop diagram and benefits
Already in use at several customer sites, the FVI16 floating power VI source has generated multiple orders from leading automotive customers. Flexible licensing arrangements are available to allow customers to ensure the solution meets their specific needs.
Advantest has extended the performance of its V93000 single scalable platform with the FVI16 floating power VI source for testing power and analog ICs used in automotive, industrial and consumer mobile-charging applications such as the growing e-mobility and rapid charger market. By supplying 250 watts of high-pulse power and up to 40 watts of DC power, the new source helps to provide sufficient power testing latest generation devices while conducting stable and repeatable measurements.
The enhanced power resource gives the V93000 platform the industry’s best VI signal performance and expands its coverage into new markets, making it the broadest test solution available. With the FVI16, this versatile test platform is now equipped for testing semiconductors for a wider range of power-management devices, from airbags and ABS (anti-lock braking system) controllers to USB-C chargers and cordless power tools.
The system’s digital feedback loop design provides the best source, measurement accuracy and analog/power performance on the market, compared to competitors’ systems that operate with a traditional analog feedback. Digital feedback technology offers several unique features including spike-free “smart connections” with constant Kelvin monitoring for reliable and highly precise measurements. User-controllable slew rate and bandwidth settings allow fast settling times adapted to the respective load conditions.
The FVI16 unit features the industry’s highest instrument-channel density, enabling small system configurations that fit into Advantest’s A-Class test head and therefore lowers cost of test. Sixteen channels with four-quadrant operation allow for source ganging of up to 155 amps per card on high-current tests. For high-voltage testing, source stacking of up to +180 volts per card within a floating range of + 200 volts can be achieved.
The FVI16’s patented integrated fast current clamp protects the loadboard hardware, probe card pins and DUT sockets in case a damaged device creates a short circuit. Customers can use the new FVI16 to extend the capabilities of their existing V93000 Smart Scale systems to the higher voltages, increased channel count and power demands for high-site- count IC testing while maintaining a low cost of test.
Already in use at several customer sites, the FVI16 floating power VI source has generated multiple orders from leading automotive customers in Europe and Japan. Advantest is offering flexible licensing arrangements that allow customers to select the best fit for their specific needs.
