Integrated Test Cell for MEMS-Based Sensors Testing Installed at Advantest

Leading semiconductor test equipment supplier Advantest Corporation has installed a fully integrated test cell for final testing of MEMS-based sensors used in tire-pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) for China's fast-growing automotive market.

The test cell has been qualified and is now being used in volume production at the customer's site in addition to being available at the customer's outsourced semiconductor assembly and test (OSAT) partner.

"There is a trend in the rapidly growing market for MEMS sensors toward greater integration of device functions," said Juergen Serrer, general manager and vice president, V93000 Power-Analog-Control (PAC) Solutions Group at Advantest Corporation. "This 'sensor fusion' is driving the need for cost-efficient test solutions with the flexibility to handle growing volume demands. Our integrated test cell, with the highly scalable V93000 at its center, fills that critical need."

The test cell seamlessly integrates Advantest's V93000 Smart Scale™ tester with a Pin Scale 1600 universal-pin digital channel card and a small-footprint A-Class test head with up to 1,024 pins for highly efficient multi-site testing. A high-volume handler and pressure stimulus tools from other equipment vendors also are bundled into the integrated test cell. The combined capabilities enable this single test cell to meet all test requirements for MEMS sensor devices without switching resources, thereby achieving high throughput. The system can test digital I/O protocols with speeds up to 1.6 Gbps, non-volatile memories such as eFlash, A/D and D/A converters, and RF-based UHF transmitters operating over the range of 315 MHz to 433 MHz.

Advantest's SmarTest software boosts the test cell's engineering and operating efficiency. In addition to enabling the cell to accommodate multiple handlers, ensuring easy scalability for future expansion, SmarTest provides access to an extensive sensor test library to make test program development easier and faster.

The V93000 Smart Scale platform, which combines digital and analog testing capabilities, reduces the cost of test while delivering industry-leading performance in parallel testing and the first full-performance test solution at wafer sort. Among its available options is the A-Class configuration, which uses Advantest's smallest test head to minimize both footprint and power consumption to achieve a highly economical cost of ownership.

Capable of performing per-pin testing with high multi-site efficiency, the Pin Scale 1600 digital channel card is the widest scaling pin card on the market. With data-transfer rates ranging from direct current (DC) to 1.6 Gbps and densities doubled or quadrupled compared to previous pin cards, this small-form-factor card provides full test coverage with clock-domain-per-pin™, protocol-engine-per-pin™, pseudo-random bit stream (PRBS) per pin and SmartLoop™ testing of symmetrical high-speed interfaces to deliver true system-like-stress testing.