Challenges for Semiconductor Test Engineering: A Review Paper

Stefan R Vock, OJ Escalona, Colin Turner, FJ Owens

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

8 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Today’s economical cycles challenge the test program generation process for semiconductors with regard to productivity, time-to-market, increasing quality requirements and manufacturing robustness, while, at the same time, the complexity of the system-on-a-chip mixed-signal integrated circuits to be tested increases significantly. Furthermore, commercial challenges in combination with competitive advantage become an important factor, not only within semiconductor manufacturing, but also within test program development. This paper provides a review of these challenges, and how they might be addressed. We first give a short introduction and background on semiconductor testing and test development with the focus on mixed-signal and systems-on-chip. This is followed by current roadmaps and considerations for test program software development. Based on the highlighted strength and weaknesses of the reviewed approaches, the authors conclude with some recommendations to address these challenges by adopting software engineering methods for the test program development process.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)365-374
JournalJournal of Electronic Testing
Volume28
Issue number3
Publication statusPublished - 15 Jun 2012

Fingerprint

Semiconductor materials
Software engineering
Productivity
Testing
Mixed signal integrated circuits
System-on-chip

Keywords

  • Semiconductor test
  • software quality
  • productivity
  • automated test equipment
  • system-on-a-chip test
  • mixed-signal test
  • test engineering

Cite this

Vock, Stefan R ; Escalona, OJ ; Turner, Colin ; Owens, FJ. / Challenges for Semiconductor Test Engineering: A Review Paper. In: Journal of Electronic Testing. 2012 ; Vol. 28, No. 3. pp. 365-374.
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Vock, SR, Escalona, OJ, Turner, C & Owens, FJ 2012, 'Challenges for Semiconductor Test Engineering: A Review Paper', Journal of Electronic Testing, vol. 28, no. 3, pp. 365-374.

Challenges for Semiconductor Test Engineering: A Review Paper. / Vock, Stefan R; Escalona, OJ; Turner, Colin; Owens, FJ.

In: Journal of Electronic Testing, Vol. 28, No. 3, 15.06.2012, p. 365-374.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

TY - JOUR

T1 - Challenges for Semiconductor Test Engineering: A Review Paper

AU - Vock, Stefan R

AU - Escalona, OJ

AU - Turner, Colin

AU - Owens, FJ

PY - 2012/6/15

Y1 - 2012/6/15

N2 - Today’s economical cycles challenge the test program generation process for semiconductors with regard to productivity, time-to-market, increasing quality requirements and manufacturing robustness, while, at the same time, the complexity of the system-on-a-chip mixed-signal integrated circuits to be tested increases significantly. Furthermore, commercial challenges in combination with competitive advantage become an important factor, not only within semiconductor manufacturing, but also within test program development. This paper provides a review of these challenges, and how they might be addressed. We first give a short introduction and background on semiconductor testing and test development with the focus on mixed-signal and systems-on-chip. This is followed by current roadmaps and considerations for test program software development. Based on the highlighted strength and weaknesses of the reviewed approaches, the authors conclude with some recommendations to address these challenges by adopting software engineering methods for the test program development process.

AB - Today’s economical cycles challenge the test program generation process for semiconductors with regard to productivity, time-to-market, increasing quality requirements and manufacturing robustness, while, at the same time, the complexity of the system-on-a-chip mixed-signal integrated circuits to be tested increases significantly. Furthermore, commercial challenges in combination with competitive advantage become an important factor, not only within semiconductor manufacturing, but also within test program development. This paper provides a review of these challenges, and how they might be addressed. We first give a short introduction and background on semiconductor testing and test development with the focus on mixed-signal and systems-on-chip. This is followed by current roadmaps and considerations for test program software development. Based on the highlighted strength and weaknesses of the reviewed approaches, the authors conclude with some recommendations to address these challenges by adopting software engineering methods for the test program development process.

KW - Semiconductor test

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KW - productivity

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KW - system-on-a-chip test

KW - mixed-signal test

KW - test engineering

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JO - Journal of Electronic Testing

JF - Journal of Electronic Testing

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Vock SR, Escalona OJ, Turner C, Owens FJ. Challenges for Semiconductor Test Engineering: A Review Paper. Journal of Electronic Testing. 2012 Jun 15;28(3):365-374.