1. Implementation of Test Engineering Training using Remote ATE: A First Experience at European Level
Yves Bertrand, Marie-Lise Flottes,
LIRMM Montpellier
Hans-Joachim Wunderlich, Nicoleta Pricopi,
Universität Stuttgart

2. Test theory vs. Test practice
Industrial World
Academic World
ATE
Shmoo
Wafer Sort
Binning
. . .
Fault Modelling
Fault Simulation
ATPG
DFT
BIST
. . .
Bridging
the Gap
First I have to situate the problem of education in the field of IC Test
And the first think I have to do is to present the state-of-the-art in IC manufacturing
Here is the photograph of a Bull Microprocessor which may be considered as a representative Integated Circuit of nowaday manufacturing
This IC contains about 7 millions of transistors
Implemented on a 2x2 cm2 silicon chip
With 428 I/O pins
Now what are the problems we have to face when testing such a circuit
Testmethoden in der Ausbildung

3. European Project: EuNICE-Test
Objectives and focus
To strengthen in critical disciplines of design and test in microelectronics leading education centres, with the active support of industry
To address shortage of skills in the microelectronics industry by encouraging students at pre- and post-doctoral level to carry out innovative research, supported by industry
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4. Remote access to central test ressources
Stuttgart
Ljubljana
Renater
Torino
Barcelona
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5. Testmethoden in der Ausbildung
Test Tool
Agilent F330t
Per-Pin Architecture
Pin Count: 128 (/512)
Max. Speed: 330MHz
PMU/16 Pins
Analog Resources
The evolution of IC's manufacturing shows that, proportionnally , the number of Transistors increases much more than the number of Pins
This obviously induces a very important loss in acceeding the internal nodes
And this makes the test of IC's more and more difficult
Also, due to the telecom and multimedia market explosion there is an increasing production of circuits that implements on the same chip digital and analog blocks
And the test of these so-called "mixed-circuits" is a very difficult task
In the same time the comptiveness of the IC market implies Quality requirements and, consequently, a better binning at the end of production lines
All these arguments make that the test is a real key point when developping and producing a new IC.
As an example to illustrate the financial impact of the test problem, know that the test part may represent up to 20% of the global cost of a complex mixed-signal circuit
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6. Testmethoden in der Ausbildung
Test Tool (2)
New ATE : Agilent SOC Tester
Data rates up to 1 Gbit/s
Up to 960 digital pins plus integrated analog instrument
Up to 32 analog instruments
Flexible, scalable test platform
SmarTest software environment
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7. Testmethoden in der Ausbildung
Implementation
Barcelona
Stuttgart
Torino
Ljubljana
Test
Server
Tester
CRTC, Montpellier
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8. Testmethoden in der Ausbildung
Test Resources
CRTC Test Resources
83K/93K Agilent Testers
Technical Staff : 1 Test Engineer (+ network)
Training Staff : 5 people (professor, Researcher)
Remote Centre Resources
1 HP9000 Station
Test Software : Agilent SmarTest
First I have to situate the problem of education in the field of IC Test
And the first think I have to do is to present the state-of-the-art in IC manufacturing
Here is the photograph of a Bull Microprocessor which may be considered as a representative Integated Circuit of nowaday manufacturing
This IC contains about 7 millions of transistors
Implemented on a 2x2 cm2 silicon chip
With 428 I/O pins
Now what are the problems we have to face when testing such a circuit
Testmethoden in der Ausbildung

9. Remote Access to Test Facilitiesx
Remote center
CRTC, Montpellier T R C
Workstation 1
Test
Station
Workstation 2
Local
HP9000
Workstation 3
Server
HP9000
In this context
we have to educate electronics engineers to prepare them to this new challenge of managing in parallel the design and the test of nowaday IC's
Also, due to the new requirements for IC testing and the very rapid evolution of industrial testers (the so-called ATE, for Automatic Test Equipment)
We have to educate in-place engineers who have to face novel test techniques and develop test programs on the generation of mixed-signal Testers
ATE
Workstation 10
HP83000 F330t
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10. Digital Test Training (1)
Part 1 (one Week): Basics of ATE Programming
Preparing the Tests
Test Execution and Results Analysis
Avanced Test Concepts
Test Resource Optimization
Automating the Test Program
Shmoo Plot
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Softscope Mode

11. Digital Test Training (2)
Part 2 (one week): Advanced ATE Programming
Timing Optimisation
Equation-Based Test
Translating Test Programs
Advanced Testflow Programming
Multi-Site Testing
Softscope Mode
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Softscope Mode

12. Testmethoden in der Ausbildung
Project Schedule
Training implementation UPC (Barcelona)
Digital Test Training
for trainers (CRTC)
Training implementation Politec. (Torino)
Training implementation UST (Stuttgart)
Training implementation IJS (Ljubljana)
Specialized Test (Mixed, Mem.)
Training for trainers (CRTC)
Mixed-Signal Test
Training implementation
Sep. 2000
Sep. 2001
Sep. 2002
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13. Mixed Signal Test Training (1)
Basics
Principle of the DSP-based Testing
Sampling and Synchronization Techniques
Histogram-based Test Technique
Fourier Analysis
Characterization Parameters to be Measured
What is the motivation of this work ?
In 1997, the French Universities involved in mE education,
had to answer the following question:
“ How to Meet the Requirements of Microelectronics Industry for Engineers having a double Design & Test Competence ? ”
And this was the starting point of the educational experience
I plan to describe in this presentation.
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14. Mixed Signal Test Training (2)
Labs
Pin Configuration
Level/Timing Setups
Mixed-signal File Setup
ADC Linearity Test: Gain, Offset, DNL, INL
ADC Distortion: THD, SND, SNR
Code Count H(i)
Code i
ADC Test: Sinusoidal Histogram
What is the motivation of this work ?
In 1997, the French Universities involved in mE education,
had to answer the following question:
“ How to Meet the Requirements of Microelectronics Industry for Engineers having a double Design & Test Competence ? ”
And this was the starting point of the educational experience
I plan to describe in this presentation.
Testmethoden in der Ausbildung 2 2

15. University/Industry Partnership
Tester Company
Contribution
Pedagogical Competence
Research Environment
Rooms
Consumables
. . .
Technical Expertise
Technical Assistance
Hardware : Testers
Software
. . .
Benefits
Up-to-Date and Performing ATE
100 trainees/year on specific hardware
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