Abstract :
IC manufacturers are engaged in a continuous process of complexity increase (Moore´s law) and at the same time of price decrease-not to forget the search for quality. The cost aspect is particularly important for microcontroller (MCU) manufacturers, since these devices are produced in volume, and are used in cost-sensitive equipment (automotive, appliances, toys, etc.). This is why STMicroelectronics has used a lot effort to obtain a Cost of Test reduction. The purpose of this paper is to present the process STMicroelectronics implemented to establish the Cost of Test of their devices, compute its value, analyze it and from there achieve a drastic reduction of this Cost. This study has been realized within the ESPRIT SEA (Semiconductor Equipment Assessment) program. It combined Schlumberge r-Automatic Test Equipment and Temic-MHS around STMicroelectronics to form the COTRED (Cost Of Test Reduction) project
Keywords :
automatic test equipment; automatic testing; cost-benefit analysis; integrated circuit testing; integrated circuit yield; microcontrollers; production testing; COTRED project; ESPRIT SEA program; IC manufacture; Schlumberger ATE; Temic-MHS; cost of test reduction; microcontroller test constraints; operating modes; parallel test; throughput; Costs; Investments; Life testing; Manufacturing processes; Microcontrollers; Moore´s Law; Space cooling; System testing; Throughput; Toy manufacturing industry;
