News Briefs

Through a partnership with Bio-Imaging Research (BIR; Lincolnshire, IL), Feinfocus will add BIR's Advanced Computed Tomography Imaging System (ACTIS) to its µCT Fox x-ray inspection system, enabling the µCT Fox to perform volume computed tomography (CT) scanning.

With the addition of 3-D imaging, the µCT Fox microfocus x-ray system will now be able to "see" cracks, voids, delaminations, and other anomalies inside a device. Feinfocus says the new system is suited for inspecting sensors, MEMS/MOEMS, medical devices, and complex electromechanical components. www.feinfocus.com.

The IEEE has upgraded its 488.1 spec, enabling the IEEE 488 to now transfer data at speeds up to 8 Mbytes/s. Previously, the bus handled 1-Mbyte/s data transfers.

The modified spec defines a "non-interlocked" handshaking protocol between devices using only two control lines, which transfers data faster while still ensuring data integrity; the earlier version of the standard depended on three-wire handshaking and handshaking after each byte. Devices that comply with the new version of IEEE 488.1 will be backward compatible with the existing protocol. www.ieee.org.

During the next few months, the Interoperability Lab at the University of New Hampshire (UNH-IOL; Durham) will host a multivendor network that will serve as a test bed for version 6 of the Internet Protocol (IPv6). Sponsored by the Moonv6 project—a collaboration of industry members, engineers, the UNH-IOL, and several organizations within the Department of Defense—the network will test and demonstrate the effectiveness of the IPv6 technology under real-world conditions. Test equipment for the project has been provided by Agilent Technologies, Ixia, Navtel Communications, and Spirent Communications.

IPv6 was designed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF; www.ietf.org) to replace the current IPv4, which has been in use for nearly 20 years and is facing a shortage of network addresses. IPv6 solves the address shortage and also improves network routing and configuration processes. The DoD has begun phasing out IPv4 and has mandated that all networking devices sold to the military must be IPv6-compatible by 2008.

The Moonv6 project (www.moonv6.org) was formed to promote the new protocol throughout North America. The IPv6 network under-went an initial operability and test period at the UNH-IOL from October 7 to October 17, after which it was to continue to serve as a proving ground for use by US industry, universities, research labs, the DoD, and government agencies for an additional six months. www.iol.unh.edu.

LogicVision (San Jose, CA) has announced that it has certified EL & Associates (Pleasanton, CA), a provider of design services, as the first LogicVision Design Service Partner. EL & Associates will perform embedded test integration and verification using LogicVision's embedded test technology and its LV2004 test products.

"EL & Associates is a well-established design services company that specializes in design-for-test and manufacturing test enhancement for ASICs and SOCs." said Ron Mabry, Logic-Vision's VP of marketing and business development, in a prepared statement. "This partnership helps us provide our customers with optimized test solutions through the combination of leading edge embedded test technology and specialized design services." www.logicvision.com.

TA Associates, a Boston-based equity firm, has completed a $95 million investment in Eagle Test Systems (Mundelein, IL), a supplier of automated test equipment used in semiconductor production. Eagle Test Systems manufactures testers for power-management devices, high-speed and precision amplifiers, and communication and cellular devices.

"The semiconductor industry is increasingly looking to lower the cost of test," said Jameson McJunkin, a VP at TA, in a prepared statement. McJunkin, who will join Eagle's board of directors, also said, "Eagle Test Systems is able to deliver dramatically lower test costs than competitors in its key markets. The company has gained share through the industry downturn and is well-positioned to take advantage of growth in the automated test equipment market." www.taassociates.com.

ATE. For Q3, Teradyne (Boston, MA) reported net sales of $329 million, and a net loss of $53.5 million, or $0.28 per share. On the positive side, net orders increased 10% from Q2 to $336 million. www.teradyne.com.

DSL devices. In-Stat/MDR (Scottsdale, AZ) reports that the market for DSL ICs rebounded, in terms of port shipments, in 2002. The high-tech market research firm says total silicon shipments rose from 38.1 million ports in 2001 to 50.0 million ports in 2002. But due to declining average selling prices, total DSL IC revenue fell from $699 million in 2001 to $594.9 million in 2002. www.instat.com.

ATE. Advantest (Tokyo, Japan) announced it has returned to profitability for the April 1 to June 30, 2003, quarter, posting net income of 143 million yen (just over $1 million) on sales of 27.2 billion yen ($227 million). www.advantest.com.