IC Characterization Enterprise Test Solutions

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A large semiconductor manufacturer and also a leading OEM supplier of hard disk drive (HDD) preamplifier and motor controller solutions wanted to increase the efficiency of their integrated circuit (IC) testing and characterization process. The IC engineering design group wanted to greatly reduce the time and effort required to analyze IC characterization test results and create management and customer reports from days to minutes. To achieve this goal, the OEM selected VI Technology to design and integrate a full-featured enterprise test data management system. The system we implemented for this OEM uses VI Technology’s Arendar test data management software because it can handle large amounts of test data produced by their IC characterization automated test systems.

Safekeeping and Accessing Valuable Test Data
Getting the design right the first time is crucial for the success of the OEM’s customers. Their integrated circuits are essential components in HDD applications. The ICs must be designed and manufactured for very challenging performance specifications, demanding rapid design and validation cycles and fast ramp-up in production to meet their disk drive customer demands.

Their engineers needed the ability to quickly analyze and correlate IC characterization test results in order to verify components meet design specifications. They also wanted to automate the entire process from IC testing to generating the final report to shorten design cycles and increase their productivity.

IC characterization automated test systems generate large amounts of data that need to be correlated, analyzed and shared amongst team members in all phases of design. The large amount of data generated is the result of multiple test sequences running hundreds or even thousands of times, each producing a separate set of data.

Enterprise Test Data Management Solution
One of the key advantages of the IC characterization test data management solution is that it provides an easy-to-use standard framework for configuring instrumentation, setting up and executing test sequences, capturing and analyzing characterization test results and generating reports. The system greatly reduces setup time and increases productivity of technicians and engineers using the system.

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IC characterization test data management system configuration

IC characterization automated test stations are based on National Instruments TestStand and LabVIEW. TestStand executes a series of predefined test sequences. LabVIEW is used to control standalone instruments (i.e. Tektronix, Agilent and Thermonics) and acquire IC characterization test data. Preamp test sequences are designed to simulate HDD head read-write operations in order to obtain characterization data. Each sequence performs multiple tests including waveform, gain and bandwidth sweep, read/write switching recovery, power consumption, and digital temperature monitoring. Sequences are designed to test each device under a wide variety of operating conditions by iterating a test with different pre-set conditions. These conditions may include instrument and power supply setup or changing temperature control and preamp settings on successive iterations. The test data management system stores all test results including instrument measurements, operating conditions, operator and station setup data, and information about each IC tested.

Each test station is networked to a central server. Arendar safely stores test results in a Microsoft SQL Server database. The entire process from characterization testing individual ICs to analyzing results and generating reports is automated.

Engineers and managers have secure, real-time access to IC characterization test data, analysis and reports via any computer on the OEM’s intranet. Their engineers use Arendar’s web interface to compare actual IC characterization test results against design specifications and perform in-depth analysis of multiple test variables and conditions.

"The Arendar-based test data management system is an invaluable tool for managing large amounts of data generated by our IC characterization test systems. Our design engineers can quickly compare components under different test conditions and automatically create IC characterization reports in minutes that used to take us a week to create."

OEM Advanced Characterization Engineering Manager

Arendar’s report utility automatically extracts IC characterization data from the database and sends the data to a Microsoft Excel worksheet for analysis. Engineers at their R&D center frequently use Microsoft Excel and Word for generating IC characterization evaluation reports. Arendar simplifies this process as it automatically exports test results from the database directly to Excel. Being able to easily generate pre-formatted reports is very useful, as an IC characterization report may easily consist of several hundred pages. Reports can also be viewed over the web making the flow of information faster and significantly improving the decision-making process.

The Arendar test data management system has a positive impact on the efficiency and productivity of the company’s engineers and managers trying to make sense out of all the IC characterization data. The Arendar system provides a comprehensive solution for turning raw test data into valuable information. Engineers and managers analyze and track key preamp and servo IC performance metrics, identify problems proactively and take immediate corrective action to improve product performance and quality.

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Engineers can use Arendar’s web dashboard to securely access IC characterization test results from any computer with a web browser.

The Value of the Solution
The enterprise test data management solution saves their engineers a great deal of time and effort while also greatly reducing IC characterization test time and cost. The time it takes to generate a complex IC characterization report consisting of several hundred pages has been reduced from one week to two hours. Many IC characterization reports are created automatically or available in seconds with the click of a button.

Thanks to test data management solution implemented by VI Technology, engineers and managers at this OEM now have immediate access to the information they need to make informed decisions to shorten their design and validation cycles, optimize preamp and servo performance and better meet the demands of their global hard disk drive customers.

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