Testing diversification
Steve Scheiber, Contributing Technical Editor -- Test & Measurement World, 7/1/2006
On May 16, microprocessor manufacturer Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) announced the end of "boring PCs" (Ref. 1). The company has developed a new line of processors, some of which will include all of the features that can squeeze onto the silicon, while others economize on power consumption and other performance parameters, as well as cost. The resulting plethora of microprocessors will spawn an even wider range of new PC products.
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| The photo shows a lidless dual-core AMD processor (right), a 90-nm single-core version (center), and one manufactured at 130 nm. Courtesy of AMD. |
For the test community, an explosion of this magnitude will add to the programming burden and complicate the process of tracking program flavors and versions. Also, the Balkanization of the PC means that manufacturers will sell fewer of each model, so amortization of nonrecurring engineering costs such as test programs and fixtures will become more difficult.
Today, contract manufacturers who make PCs for several OEMs can re-use major pieces of their test programs to reduce the startup effort of taking on new customers or releasing new products. Reforming the "boring PC" will mean that less of a test program designed for one PC will be applicable to a PC aimed at a different application. Emulation test techniques would present a particular challenge, since emulator programs (and hardware, if the device pinouts are not the same from model to model) depend greatly on the internal function of the processor itself.
Nevertheless, industry experts remain optimistic. Agilent engineer/scientist Ken Parker remarked, "I see little effect at in-circuit test because most microprocessors that we see are socketed and are not present during test. There will be layout differences, but since the other parts of the boards will be substantially different anyway, each board will still need a different fixture. On the other hand, if the processor resides onboard during ICT, the test will have to exploit any available testability, which could be different for each device type. Including IEEE 1149.1 on all the boards would alleviate much of the problem and eliminate a lot of work."
Jim Benson, Agilent AXI product engineer added, "It won't be much of an issue for inspection unless the chips use a new type of solder connection. In most cases, we would simply have to add a new package to the device library."
Right now we know only what AMD and others intend to do. Much of its impact will depend on the extent of the fragmentation and over what period of time. We need to watch how this plays out. sscheiber@aol.com
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