Verigy Adds Parallelism to Reduce Memory Test Development Time

  
    
  
  
    
      Verigy (NASDAQ:VRGY), a premier semiconductor test company, has 
      introduced the Programmable Interface Matrix for the Verigy V5000e 
      Engineering Workstation to bring the parallel test capabilities of the 
      Matrix to memory manufacturers using the popular V5000e for engineering, 
      test development and debug. With the Matrix, the V5000e can test 12 
      devices under test (DUT) in parallel, dramatically increasing overall 
      throughput, while reducing operator intervention. The Matrix also 
      increases the pin count of the V5000e to 768 tester resource pins, 
      making it possible to test higher-pin-count memory devices of multiple 
      memory types (NOR, NAND, DRAM, SRAM, and MCP).
    
    
      As product life cycles continue to shorten, manufacturers need to keep 
      test development time to a minimum. At the same time, there is an ever 
      greater mix of memory devices on test floors. To meet the challenges of 
      testing all of these devices, manufacturers need test systems for 
      engineering development with parallelism and flexibility. However, using 
      a full-blown production system in the engineering development 
      environment is not cost effective and often not feasible. The V5000e 
      with Matrix addresses those challenges while reducing test development 
      time.
    
    
      “Until now, the best option for memory 
      manufacturers looking for a characterization or test development system 
      was spending millions on an additional final test system,” 
      said Gayn Erickson, vice president and general manager, Memory Test 
      Solutions, Verigy. “With the Matrix, these 
      capabilities are now available to our V5000e users in the test 
      development and debugging environment.”
    
    
      The Matrix was originally designed to bring down the cost-of-test during 
      final production test and until now was only available with the Verigy 
      V5500 Final Test system. Verigy developed the new version of the Matrix 
      for the V5000e to meet the increasing need for a powerful, flexible 
      solution in the characterization or test development setting that can 
      handle multiple memory types (NOR, NAND, DRAM, SRAM, and multi-chip 
      packages, or MCP).
    
    
      Available since 2005, the V5000e is the leading engineering workstation 
      for testing the full spectrum of memory devices and features a scalable 
      platform architecture, office environment design and the power and 
      flexibility necessary for engineering development.
    
    
      Advanced Features for Maximum Return on 
      Investment and Lower Cost-of-Test
    
    
      With the Matrix, the V5000e offers users expanded functionality and 
      performance, now able to test 12 DUT in parallel. The Matrix also 
      increases the pin count of the base V5000e test system from 128 I/O pins 
      to 768 tester resource pins, making it possible to test higher-pin-count 
      memory. This offers the flexibility to address current and emerging test 
      methodologies with the V5000e.
    
    
      The Matrix allows the tester to automatically shift resources from pin 
      to pin without manual reinsertion, which shortens overall test times and 
      also lowers the amount of manual intervention required. This feature is 
      valuable when testing MCP devices since tester resources can be moved 
      from one DUT to the next — when devices are 
      tested serially — without requiring manual 
      reinsertion of the DUT. For lengthy program and erase steps, tester 
      resources can be fanned out in parallel automatically and then switched 
      back to serial mode for read tests.
    
    
      The Matrix also supports use with thermal environmental chambers for 
      both extreme hot and cold characterization testing, expanding its 
      usability for characterization.
    
    
      About Verigy
    
    
      Verigy designs, develops, manufactures, sells and services advanced test 
      systems and solutions for the memory and system-on-chip segments of the 
      semiconductor industry. Verigy’s scalable 
      platform systems are used by leading semiconductor companies worldwide 
      in design validation, characterization, and high-volume manufacturing 
      test. Formerly part of Agilent Technologies, the company began doing 
      business as Verigy on June 1, 2006, and completed its initial public 
      offering on June 13, 2006. Information about Verigy can be found at www.verigy.com.