Production show addresses lab and characterization applications

MUNICH, GERMANY. The Productronica 2009 production-test show kicked off today with the introduction of some products that can come into play long before high-volume production begins. National Instruments debuted PXI modules and software that target semiconductor characterization, and Rohde & Schwarz debuted a signaling test capability for its CMW500 wireless test system.
NI introduced 10 new PXI products with associated software that tailor PXI for mixed-signal semiconductor characterization. The new products include four high-speed digital I/O (HSDIO) instruments, two digital switches, two enhanced RF instruments, a source-measure unit (SMU), and specialized digital-vector file importing software, which supports WGL and STIL (see “NI targets semiconductor test with Productronica introductions“). In an interview before the Productronica introduction, Scott Savage, NI’s market development manager for semiconductor test, touted NI customers’ success in using LabView and PXI hardware for semiconductor validation and characterization. The new tools should accelerate NI’s penetration into such applications.

The signaling capability just added to the R&S CMW500 (see “Rohde & Schwarz debuts signaling test for cell standards, presents radar tester“) enables complete system test at the end of a production line (nonsignaling test capability supports the test of individual modules). Nevertheless, the R&S CMW500 includes many lab-oriented test capabilities that developers can use to zero in on anomalies that they can correct to ensure optimum operation.
Increasingly, customers are looking to minimize the disruption in moving from the lab to production test, and being able to use the same instruments for both can be a big advantage. R&S instruments already serve extensively in both functions (see, for example, “RF modules pose tough test challenges“). Big-iron ATE makers have often positioned their ATE systems for program development, characterization, and failure-analysis applications-an expensive proposition that can involve developers begging production personnel for time on a production system. It will be interesting to see what success NI has in approaching characterization from a relatively low-cost system perspective.