TOKYO, Nov. 14, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Leading semiconductor test equipment supplier Advantest Corporation (TSE: 6857) today announced Pin Scale Multilevel Serial, its newest high-speed I/O (HSIO) instrument. Designed for use with the V93000 EXA Scale ATE platform, Pin Scale Multilevel Serial is both the first native EXA Scale HSIO instrument and the first fully integrated HSIO ATE instrument to address signaling requirements for advanced communication interfaces.
HSIO interfaces, long prevalent in the computing space, have found their way into consumer interfaces such as HDMI, DisplayPort and USB. In the computing space, PCI Express (PCIe) 5.0 and 6.0 are entering the multi-gigabit data-rate range and being leveraged in embedded single-board computers. Companies testing large digital designs and their interfaces, from microcontrollers and mobile application processors to high-performance computing and artificial intelligence (AI) devices, require HSIO to accommodate these high-density designs. HSIO testing is thus vital for the characterization of these new device designs as well as for early device manufacturing ramp phases.
Pin Scale Multilevel Serial supports data rates up to 32 gigabits per second (Gbps) and is the first fully integrated ATE instrument that natively supports multilevel signaling (e.g., PAM4), which is rapidly growing in high-speed interfaces. This heightens ease of use as it enables use of programing schemes typical in digital test, reducing test program development time and cost. As such, it helps to optimize leading-edge technologies and speed time to market by providing additional test coverage for ramping of new chip designs.
Because Pin Scale Multilevel Serial is fully integrated, it can be easily configured into the EXA Scale platform. Competitive offerings typically require an integration stage to be mounted between the top of the test head and the interface to the device under test (DUT), degrading signal performance and worsening manufacturing integration.
“The rapid rise of high-data-rate applications at the exascale level is fueling the need for new signal processing capabilities in a flexible ATE instrument,” said Ralf Stoffels, executive officer and division manager, V93000 Product Unit at Advantest Corporation. “Our new Pin Scale Multilevel Serial card builds on our HSIO expertise to enable a fully integrated approach that significantly extends the capabilities of our V93000 EXA Scale, strengthening the value that we bring to customers working on these advanced devices.”
Pin Scale Multilevel Serial is currently in early evaluation with several leading customers, and Advantest will soon accept purchase orders for the new instrument. To learn more about Pin Scale Multilevel Serial and the V93000 EXA Scale™ test platform, please visit https://www.advantest.com/products/soc/v93000/exa.html.
About Advantest Corporation
Advantest (TSE: 6857) is the leading manufacturer of automatic test and measurement equipment used in the design and production of semiconductors for applications including 5G communications, the Internet of Things (IoT), autonomous vehicles, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, smart medical devices and more. Its leading-edge systems and products are integrated into the most advanced semiconductor production lines in the world. The company also conducts R&D to address emerging testing challenges and applications, produces multi-vision metrology scanning electron microscopes essential to photomask manufacturing, and offers groundbreaking 3D imaging and analysis tools. Founded in Tokyo in 1954, Advantest is a global company with facilities around the world and an international commitment to sustainable practices and social responsibility. More information is available at www.advantest.com.
HDMI, the HDMI Logo and High-Definition Multimedia Interface are trademarks or registered trademarks of HDMI Licensing LLC. DisplayPort is a trademark of the Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA).
ADVANTEST CORPORATION
3061 Zanker Road
San Jose, CA 95134, USA
Cassandra Koenig
cassandra.koenig@advantest.com
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/dfdc6f7a-3304-4d72-bb03-606b25578368
