News briefs

Inovys (Pleasanton, CA) and Q-Star Test NV (Brugge, Belgium) have announced the successful culmination of an effort to combine Q-Star Test's Series of I_DDQ measurement modules with the Inovys Ocelot line of testers. Combining Q-Star Test's QD-1010 10-kHz measurement-rate capability with the Ocelot high-speed I_DDQ pattern-control capabilities provides reduced overall test time.

The Inovys implementation of I_DDQ uses STIL (IEEE 1450) I_DDQ test-pattern files that support I_DDQ test patterns generated by commercial automatic test pattern generation (ATPG) tools. These pattern files can be loaded directly into any Inovys tester without further translation or manipulation. The test system's pattern system directly controls the Q-Star module to generate fast I_DDQ measurements on specified vectors. These measurements are captured in real time by the tester's hardware and are subsequently processed by specialized I_DDQ test methods within the Inovys Stylus operating system. www.inovys.com.

In mid-January, Texas Instruments (TI; Houston, TX) began shipping a 1-GHz digital signal processor (DSP) that it produces with a 90-nm process. The company is also using the 90-nm process on its previously announced 720-MHz chips, a change that has enabled TI to lower the price of the chips.

TI expects the new 1-GHz DSPs (the TMS320C6414, C6415, and C6416) to be used in high-speed video and imaging applications, including IP-based video, broadband networking, medical diagnostics, and radar. In addition, researchers are experimenting with using the chips in promising applications such as smart cars and artificial vision.

A 1-GHz device can process eight channels of MPEG-2 video in real time at 720x480-pixel resolution, or 55 channels of GSM adaptive multi-rate (AMR) speech coding in a wireless application. (To learn how the company tests these chips, see "Revving up real time" in the October 2003 issue of T&MW, www.tmworld.com/archives.)

By using a 90-nm production process, TI was able to make smaller and faster chips. The company was able to reduce the die size and produce nearly 50% more die per wafer. This, in turn, enabled TI to cut the base price of its 720-MHz C64x devices to $115 each per 10,000 units. The 1-GHz chips start at $189 each per 10,000. www.ti.com.

As of July 1, 2006, electrical equipment sold in Europe must comply with a European Union directive that restricts the use of lead. To help manufacturers comply with this directive, the IPC and JEDEC are sponsoring a series of conferences, with three of the conferences scheduled for 2004.

The organizations will host their conferences in San Jose, CA, from March 17 to 19; in Singapore during August; and in Frankfurt, Germany, during October. Tutorials will cover how to manufacture with lead-free, halogen-free, and conductive-adhesive materials. In addition, workshops will introduce lead-free solders and present selection criteria for lead-free compositions. www.ipc.org.

Electro Scientific Industries (ESI; Portland, OR; www.esi.com) has chosen Nick Konidaris as its new president and CEO. Konidaris had previously served as the president and CEO of Advantest America (Santa Clara, CA).

ESI makes manufacturing equipment for the semiconductor, passive component, and electronics markets. Last spring, accounting problems required the company to restate its results from fiscal 2002 and from Q1 and Q2 of fiscal 2003, and many officers were let go or resigned in the ensuing weeks and months. Konidaris replaces Barry Harmon, who took over the president and CEO positions in April 2003; Harmon will continue to serve on ESI's board of directors.

In his 25 years in the technology industry, Konidaris has held positions at several companies, primarily Advantest America and Teradyne. At Advantest America, he was responsible for all US operations, including sales and marketing, research and development, and supply chain management.

Advantest America, which manufactures electronic measuring equipment and semiconductor test systems, has replaced Konidaris with R. Keith Lee, who has worked for the company since 1984 and has held senior management positions in design and development, sales and marketing, and applications and systems engineering. www.advantest.com.

Test equipment. Test-equipment maker Teradyne (Boston, MA) has reported sales of $357.6 million for the fourth quarter of 2003. Net orders for the quarter increased 45% from the previous quarter, to $488.2 million. www.teradyne.com.

Networks. In-Stat/MDR (Scottsdale, AZ) reports that the Wi-Fi hardware market achieved "staggering growth" in 2003. The research firm expects that 22.7 million NICs (network interface cards) and AP (access point) units rolled out in 2003; by 2007, this should grow to over 40 million units. In-Stat's analysis indicates that the primary market drivers for 2003 were 802.11g products and the low prices for 802.11b equipment. www.instat.com.

Wireless ICs. RF Micro Devices (Greensboro, NC), a provider of RFICs used in wireless communications applications, has announced that its revenue for the quarter ended December 31 reached $193 million, an increase of 18.1% over the previous quarter and an increase of 32.3% over the corresponding quarter of the previous year. www.rfmd.com.

APEX, February 21–26, Anaheim, CA. The conference focuses on electronics assembly processes and equipment. Sponsored by IPC. 847-509-9700; www.goapex.org.

Optical Fiber Communication Conference (OFC), February 22–27, Los Angeles, CA. Topics include fibers, amplifiers, lasers, signal conditioning, and optical switching. Sponsored by Optical Society of America. 202-416-1907; www.ofcconference.com.

Burn-in and Test Socket Workshop, March 7–10, Mesa, AZ. A forum for information about the socket industry. Sponsored by IEEE Computer Society, Test Technology Technical Council. 845-226-7560; www.bitsworkshop.org.

SAE 2004 World Congress, March 8–11, Detroit, MI. Sponsored by Society of Automotive Engineers. 724-772-8539; www.sae.org.

Test-Expo, March 30–April 2, Las Vegas. Topics include wafer, package, and board-level testing. Sponsored by Test-Expo. 949-235-2652; www.test-expo.com.

International Test Synthesis Workshop, April 4–7, Santa Barbara, CA. The workshop will cover various DFT and BIST topics. Sponsored by IEEE Computer Society, Test Technology Technical Council. www.tttc-itsw.org.

ESTECH 2003, April 25–28, Las Vegas, NV. The annual technical meeting of the Institute of Environmental Sciences and Technology (IEST). 847-255-1561; www.iest.org/estech/estech.htm.

VLSI Test Symposium, April 25–29, Napa Valley, CA. The symposium explores emerging trends in testing, verification, and validation of microelectronic circuits and systems. Sponsored by IEEE Computer Society, Test Technology Technical Council. www.tttc-vts.org.

IRPS 2004, April 25–29, Phoenix, AZ. Premiere meeting for engineers in the electronic component reliability field. Sponsored by IRPS. 856-256-5338; www.irps.org.

To learn about other conferences, courses, and calls for papers, visit www.tmworld.com/events.