Big name chipmakers join test consortium

Chip makers Analog Devices, Fujitsu, Philips Semiconductor, Renesas and Toshiba have joined co-founders Advantest, Intel and Motorola as members in the Semiconductor Test Consortium Inc. (STC), the group said.

The STC is committed to developing an industry-wide standard, open hardware architecture for automated semiconductor test equipment that could be populated with third-party, proprietary instrumentation, all with the goal of reducing the cost of test.

Spearheaded by Japanese ATE vendor Advantest a few years ago at the behest of Intel, the STC launched its first tester and platform, dubbed OpenStar, at the International Test Conference last autumn.

While the STC has attracted a number of third-party instrument makers, it hasn’t lured any other of the major ATE vendors, who remain skeptical of the efficacy of an industry-standard architecture. While the industry seems to be converging on the concept of configurable and scaleable platforms, most of the other major ATE vendors argue that interfaces and software standardised, rather than the tester itself.

In addition to the new chipmakers in its ranks, the STC also announced that Acqiris, AeroFlex, ARTEST, Molex Japan, Port Orford, Tensolite, Tokyo Cathode Lab, Tokyo Electron, TSK, Tyco Electronics and Xandex have all recently joined the STC’s test-related vendor ranks. Tokyo Electron, which recently joined as an STC steering committee member, will work on the interface between OpenStar and wafer probers.

Founding members of the consortium – in addition to Advantest, Intel and Motorola – include Guide Technology, Inovys, Pragmatics Technologies, Racal Instruments, Roos Instruments, StarGen, and Wavecrest.

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