Cost of Test - Big Driver in ATE

ATE suppliers have been confronted by cost-of-test issues for as long as this industry has been in existence. Some of VLSI Research's earliest projects involved cost of test in the late seventies and we have been asked to cover the topic from time to time by ATE suppliers as well as ATE users. Each time the cost-of-test issue has emerged as a major discussion point in ATE, the industry has made significant changes on how testers are architected or how test strategies are developed. Examples include the emergence of tester per pin architecture, parallel testing, functional at speed testing, iddq, DFT, and single platform tester architecture just to name a few of the changes. The economics of test will continue to be one of the key drivers for new test methodologies and tester architectures. The challenge for tester suppliers is to be able to recognize these trends early to direct R&D efforts to the projects that deliver true value to users. At the same time, tester users may come up with a number of features that are nice to have but don't drive test technology ahead to improve test processes for users or suppliers. Given that IC manufacturers will continue to operate at their optimal business model, significant deviations from the business model will drive changes in the industry to bring the model to optimal levels. This means that testers that provide quality levels that are needed at an advantageous cost are the ones that will survive the market place