News Briefs

Stratosphere Solutions was founded in 2004 by Dr. Jim Bordelon, who is CTO, and Prashant Maniar, chief strategy officer. Robert (Bob) Smith is chairman and CEO. Rounding out the executive team is Dr. Amitava Majumdar, director of engineering and architect. "Our motivation in starting Stratosphere Solutions was to build differentiated technology that meets a focused market demand, versus technology in search of a market," said Maniar.

Previously, Dr. Bordelon served as managing director of Testchip division of HPL Technologies, and Maniar served as director of marketing at HPL Technologies. An experienced executive within the EDA industry, Smith was most recently president and CEO of InTime Software and previously VP of marketing and business development at Magma Design Automation. Dr. Majumdar joined Stratosphere Solutions from Sun Microsystems, where he was senior staff engineer and architect. www.stratosol.com.

Denali Software is working with IBM to create an arsenal of verification and compliance software for developers of Power Architecture-based designs that use the IBM CoreConnect on-chip bus technology. The toolkits will be distributed as part of Denali's PureSpec verification intellectual property (IP) and PureSuite compliance products, which are compatible with major design and verification tool platforms and can be implemented in any chip development flow.

Denali and IBM will collaborate on the development of verification IP, testbenches, and compliance suites for the PLB-4 (Processor Local Bus) specification, which is the current version of IBM's CoreConnect. Denali Software is a member of Power.org, a community of companies engaged in promoting Power Architecture technology as an open standard. www.denali.com.

A new test-industry publication, Test & Measurement World China, made its debut during Nepcon China (April 4–7, Shanghai).T&MW publisher Russ Pratt and chief editor Rick Nelson joined Kevin Kang to introduce Test & Measurement World China to the show attendees. Kang is operations manager of the RBI/IDG joint venture that publishes Test & Measurement World China and other magazines targeting an Asian audience.

Under the direction of Beijing-based technical editor Tracy Tang,Test & Measurement World China includes Chinese translations of material adapted from T&MW's English edition as well as original Chinese-language material developed by Tang and her colleagues. Test & Measurement World China will be published six times per year. www.tmworld.com.cn.

Agilent Technologies has named Keith Barnes as president and CEO of its semiconductor test subsidiary, Verigy, effective May 1. Agilent plans to complete the spin-off of Verigy by October 31, the end of its fiscal year.

Barnes had been serving as the chairman and CEO of Electroglas, a manufacturer of integrated circuit (IC) probers. Prior to joining Electroglas, he was chairman and CEO of Integrated Measurement Systems (IMS) before it was acquired by Credence Systems in 2001. Barnes also served as a division president at Cadence Design Systems for the Prototype Verification Division and at Valid Logic Systems prior to its acquisition by Cadence. www.agilent.com.

Yokogawa's AQ6370 optical spectrum analyzer triples throughput over previous models. A measurement on the AQ6370 takes 1 s, which is significant in production of optical transceivers, amplifiers, and passive components. A dual-window display lets you zoom in on a frequency range while an inset lets you see the entire spectrum. The instrument covers wavelengths from 600 nm to 1700 nm, a span that includes the visible range. Power measurements range from +20 dBm to –90 dBm.

The AQ6370 contains 13 analysis functions including optical signal-to-noise, spectral width, polarization-mode dispersion analysis, and filter peak/bottom analysis. You can also perform pass-fail tests using templates that you can create and store in the instrument.

As a production tool, the AQ6370 can connect to a PC through IEEE 488, Ethernet, or RS-232. It is also code compatible with the company's AQ6317. You can create automated test procedures by recording front-panel operations and storing them in the instrument's 128 Mbytes of memory, which can also store waveform traces and analysis results. With its two IEEE 488 ports, the instrument can become an IEEE 488 bus controller.

Price: $30,000. Yokogawa, www.us.yokogawa.com.

Targeting semiconductor wafers, ICs, printed-circuit boards, MEMS, and bioscience devices, the M150 brings Cascade Microtech's DC-to-220-GHz measurement capability to a low-cost, flexible, 150-mm device measurement platform that allows customers to switch between applications within minutes.

The M150 is customer-configurable with interchangeable standard parts and accessories optimized for specific measurement needs. The M150 helps customers solve device problems such as those related to power consumption, operating frequency, signal isolation, signal integrity, and channel bandwidth.

The M150, the vendor reports, is designed for customers who work in semiconductor fabs, yield departments, and failure-analysis labs; who are working on process characterization of III-V compound semiconductors such as gallium arsenide, silicon germanium, and indium phosphide for RF, microwave, and millimeter wave applications; who are investigating signal-integrity issues on PCBs and high-speed interconnects; and who are working with emerging technologies to accurately position, navigate, and view their analysis for applications such as lab-on-a-chip, microfluidics, organic transistors, polytec neurons, MEMS devices, and other biostructures.

The M150 is available in application-specific preconfigured packages for DC, RF, failure-analysis, PCB-test, or millimeter-wave applications. In addition, customers can build their own systems optimized to their applications.

Base prices: from $5000 for a basic DC measurement system to $45,000 for a millimeter-wave system. Cascade Microtech, www.cascademicrotech.com.

International Microwave Symposium, June 11–16, San Francisco, CA. Sponsored by IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society (MTT-S). www.ims2006.org.

Semicon West, July 10–14, San Francisco, CA. Sponsored by SEMI. www.semi.org.

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