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Test Advantage is recognized as a key provider in enabling Adaptive Test Strategies within the semiconductor test environment

The 2007 International Test Conference brought significant emphasis to the growing demand for employing “Adaptive Test” strategies to optimize semiconductor test, both in terms of cost and quality. A common thread exposed during multiple sessions at the ITC conference, and among key members attending a Die Products Consortium session held during that same week, was the compelling benefits for leveraging Advanced Variance Detection data for improving the semiconductor test processes. Historically, outlier detection methods may have only been considered economically viable in operations that demanded extreme quality standards dictated by “Zero Defect” initiatives associated with specific markets such as Automotive and Medical. These conference sessions rationalized broad market appeal for employing Adaptive Test strategies leveraging Advanced Variance Detection classification methods for both commercial and high reliability markets.

Test Advantage was honored to participate as an invitee to the DPC session and was pleased to witness continued significant reinforcement from the DPC organization for Advanced Variance Detection techniques which could be leveraged in feed forward test strategies. Test Advantage is a world proven leader in providing a user definable Advanced Variance Detection platform that integrates easily within existing semiconductor manufacturing operations.

The text of the press release from the Die Products Consortium session is included below. To learn more about Advanced Variance Detection methodologies, or to facilitate effective deployment of Adaptive Test strategies within your test operation, drop us an email info@testadvantage.com or visit our website at www.testadvantage.com.

Industry Leaders Seeking Adaptive Test Solutions

February 18, 2008
Larry Gilg

A subgroup of members of the Die Products Consortium, the AC Defects test team, is focused on a new generation of test and reliability methods for leading edge semiconductor devices known as Adaptive Test. The group sponsored a unique meeting with third party vendors of Adaptive Test solutions in Santa Clara, CA during the 2007 International Test Conference held in October.

Adaptive Test is a term used to describe a broad array of statistical methods for improving semiconductor test by adjusting the test plan based upon feedback from the test environment itself. This is a major departure from traditional test methods that follow a static plan and has come to take on different meanings for different people. The AC Defects group surveyed the various ways in which adaptive test concepts have been proposed, implemented or anticipated by the member companies’ IC testing strategies. The team agreed that, to facilitate an effective evolution of the algorithms, tools and infrastructure that will be required for tomorrow’s test challenges the group should provide a summary of the findings to the commercial providers of adaptive test solutions.
Three vendors of adaptive test solutions were invited and attended the session: Pintail Technologies, Plano, Texas, OptimalTest, Nes-Ziona, Israel and Test Advantage Inc., Tempe, Arizona held in Santa Clara on October 22, 2007. During the meeting, representatives of DPC member companies presented the “highest priority” applications of adaptive test from within the DPC subgroup and the corresponding support that is needed from the vendors. The group acknowledged the breadth of methodologies that are currently in use and/or being planned for use.

The meeting was considered an important first step in moving the adaptive test solutions into a plug and play mode for IC manufacturers and third party test houses. Discussions are underway regarding potential follow-up meetings and/or activities. For more information, please contact Larry Gilg, Managing Director, DPC.
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The Die Products Consortium (DPC) is a program of Dynalog Systems Incorporated. Under the DPC program, Dynalog Systems has invited a group of leading microelectronics companies to collaborate in enlarging the markets for die products worldwide. The DPC is headquartered in Austin, Texas. See www.dieproducts.org.

2008

 

2007

November 2007
TEST ADVANTAGE APPOINTS TERADYNE VETERAN
DOUG ELDER AS SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT

TEMPE, AZ— NOVEMBER 26, 2007: Test Advantage Inc. announced today that Teradyne veteran Doug Elder has joined the company as Senior Vice President of its Hardware Division, responsible for the Teradyne value-added reselling activity.

Mr. Elder comes to Test Advantage from Teradyne, where he spent 22 year in various roles at the company. Starting in 1985 as a Sales Engineer, Mr. Elder worked upwards within the organization, serving most recently as Vice President and General Manager of the Semiconductor Test Business from 2003 to 2007.

Commenting on the appointment, Fabrice Dechoux said: “Doug Elder brings many years of senior executive level experience with Teradyne to Test Advantage in the form of market knowledge, customer relationships and platform expertise. His addition to our senior management team is of significant value to Test Advantage, as the largest Teradyne value-added equipment re-seller, and positions us perfectly to grow our Teradyne business still further.”

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September 2007
Tempe-Based Test Advantage Ranks Number 3110 on the 2007 Inc. 5,000
With Three-Year Sales Growth of 103 Percent.

NEW YORK, NY/ TEMPE, AZ. - September 21, 2007 – Inc. ranked Test Advantage number 3,110 on its first-ever Inc. 5,000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in the country. The Inc. 5,000, an extension of Inc. magazine’s annual Inc. 500 list, catches many businesses that are too big to grow at the pace required to make the Inc. 500, as well as a host of smaller firms.

Test Advantage Inc. is a leading supplier of both custom-configured Automated Test Equipment (ATE) and innovative software technology tools for semiconductor test. Since it was founded in 1997, Test Advantage has experienced pronounced periods of growth, winning the 2001 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award in part for rapid growth during the period 1997 - 2000. The Inc. 5000 award is focused on revenue growth over the last few years, which continues to be strong, driven by Test Advantage's established and growing market share in its hardware and software activities.

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April 2007
Automotive Semiconductor Device Suppliers Demonstrate Maturity in Driving Zero Defect Initiatives at Wafer Sort.
TEMPE, ARIZONA: Greg LaBonte, Software Product Manager, Test Advantage. Today, electronic systems account for more than 20 percent of the value of a new automobile, and that figure is expected to increase to more than 40 percent by 2010 . The desire to increase reliability in this competitive marketplace, along with ensuring that safety liabilities are under control, have acted as significant catalysts for automotive device manufacturers to aggressively pursue “Zero Defect” semiconductor device manufacturing strategies.
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March 2007
TEST ADVANTAGE’S STREETWISE™ TECHNOLOGY SELECTED BY TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION TO SUPPORT ZERO DEFECTS PROGRAM.

Manufacturing Excellence, Device Reliability and Customer Satisfaction Drive Decision

TEMPE, AZ—Test Advantage Inc. announced today that Toyota Motor Corporation has purchased Streetwise™, a unique software platform that provides a suite of tools for decreasing semiconductor manufacturers’ Defective Parts Per Million (DPPM) rates, thereby enhancing overall device quality and reliability.

Zero defect programs have become a norm in the auto industry where quality and yield are critical to the safety and reliability of a company’s products, and its bottom line. Test Advantage has been at the forefront of software solutions to reduce DPPM in semiconductor manufacturing. The Test Advantage Software Division is driven by the desire to help its customers attain ZERO defects in production.

“Toyota’s selection of Streetwise is a testament to the continued success of the technology and its ability to help achieve DPPM improvement and overall device reliability without compromising manufacturing cost effectiveness,” commented Fabrice Dechoux, CEO of Test Advantage. “Streetwise is a unique, production-proven platform that enhances any device manufacturer’s competitive advantage.”

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2006

May 2006
Test Advantage presents with ST Microelectronics at the 2006 Automotive Electronics Conference
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA: May 9-11 Test Advantage and ST Microelectronics jointly present “An Industrialization Program for DPPM Improvement,” a compelling paper outlining the benefits of global deployment of Test Advantage’s Streetwise™ technology.
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May 2006
Test Advantage participates in the 2006 Teradyne User Group Vendor Forum
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA: May 1-3 The Teradyne Users Group (TUG) Conference is run by an annually elected steering committee of Teradyne customers, with Teradyne appointed delegates. This Conference consists of technical papers, panel and poster sessions, as well as tutorials that present the latest in Test Technology.


June 2006
Test Advantage presents “Highly efficient DPPM improvement programs depend on pre-production and post-probe data analysis” at the 2006 Semiconductor Wafer Test Workshop.
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA: June 11-14 The Semiconductor Wafer Test Workshop is the only IEEE/CS sponsored event that focuses on all the aspects associated with microelectronic wafer and die level testing. The conference has a mixture of manufacturer and vendor presentations. It is not a sales show, nor an academic or theoretical conference.   It is a probe technology forum where attendees come to learn about recent developments in the industry and exchange ideas.
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2005

April 2005
Test Advantage presents at the 2005 Automotive Electronics Council Reliability Workshop
DETROIT, MICHIGAN: Test Advantage presents “Beyond PAT: Automatic Identification and Removal of Parametric Outliers in Semiconductor Test Data” at the 2005 Automotive Electronics Council Reliability Workshop in Detroit, Michigan, April 25th to 28th. Automotive device manufacturers are particularly interested in the quality enhancing benefits of Test Advantage’s Streetwise™ and Express™ tools.
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May 2005
Test Advantage presents at the 2005 Teradyne User Group Conference
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZONA: Test Advantage presents “An Automated Engineering Approach to Finding the Hidden Treasures Within Test Data” at the 2005 Teradyne User Group Conference, Vendor Forum in Scottsdale, Arizona, May 1st-4th.
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Nov 2005
Test Advantage’s Next Generation Streetwise™ Technology Maximizes DPPM Reductions: Adds Multi-flow to Comprehensive Outlier Detection
TEMPE, ARIZONA: November 17, 2005 — Test Advantage Inc., a technology leader providing automated, comprehensive, in-line data analysis technology for the semiconductor industry, unveiled today its next generation Streetwise™ Production and Streetwise™ Engineering software solutions at the opening of the annual International Test Conference (ITC) here in Austin, Texas. This latest generation of the Streetwise Production and Streetwise Engineering tools complements previously released product functions for detecting parametric and geographical outliers, with additional support for multi-process flow analysis and multi-process flow bin map merge capabilities. Streetwise has maintained its unique, leading-edge outlier device identification methodologies, which provide the user with unprecedented confidence in outlier device detection and validation so that users do not scrap good devices or unnecessarily sacrifice production yield.
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June 2005
Test Advantage presents at the 2005 Southwest Test Workshop
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA: Test Advantage presents "Analysis of EWS Test Data for Reliability Improvement through Outlier Detection and Automated Ink Map Generation" at the 2005 Southwest Test Workshop, June 5th-8th.
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2004

June 2004
Test Advantage Presents at the Southwest Test Workshop
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA: Test Advantage presents “Dynamic Outlier Algorithm Selection for Quality Improvement and Test Program Optimization” at the 2004 Southwest Test Workshop, an annual industry forum focused on the particular challenges of wafer test.
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2003

May 2003
Test Advantage Presents at the Teradyne User Group
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE: Test Advantage presents "Testing Field Programmable Analog Array on a Digital Platform" at the 2003 Teradyne User Group meeting. This paper will detail the challenges presented in testing a Field Programmable Analog Array on a low-cost digital platform, and some innovative methods for success.