HP Unveils Test Solution for Multimedia Chip Manufacturers; Burgeoning Market and Complex Integrated Circuits Prompt New Series of Testers to Improve Time-to-market

Business Wire, Oct 21, 1996

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 21, 1996--Hewlett-Packard Company today at the International Test Conference (ITC) unveils the HP 83000 multimedia series of integrated circuit (IC) test systems -- the industry's first "all-in-one" solution for testing the digital, analog, memory and high-speed interface components of multimedia chips. HP will showcase the two new models, the HP 83000 Model C and Model P, Oct. 21 through Oct. 24 at HP's ITC booth, No. 703, in the Sheraton Hotel and also will demonstrate production testing of a video encoder/decoder (CODEC).

"In the multimedia market, product lifecycles are short, and test is a key `gating' factor to getting products to market first at the lowest possible cost," said John Scruggs, general manager of HP's Automated Test Group. "We've created a cost-effective solution specifically for multimedia chip manufacturers that carries less risk in that the capabilities they need to test all functions of a multimedia chip are prepackaged and preinstalled. We believe this solution will help them get products to market quicker, shorten the time it takes to reach full production volume and recoup development costs."

"As the multimedia market explodes, our customers are facing the tough challenge of testing today's increasingly complex, integrated multimedia devices," said Sassan Raissi, founder and chief executive officer of Digital Testing Services, Inc., a leading semiconductor-test service provider based in Santa Clara, Calif. "HP's new multimedia series of testers offers a cost-effective, all-in-one solution."

THE CHALLENGE: FIRST TO MARKET AT THE LOWEST COST

Until recently, the functions required to manufacture multimedia products, such as video games and personal computers, were contained on separate ICs -- a different chip to manage sound, graphics, memory and video. Consumer-electronics-market cost pressures, coupled with the need to fit more functionality into less space, have forced multimedia chip manufacturers to integrate all main functions onto one chip. While integration drives costs down, it also increases a chip's complexity, which can make testing a potential bottleneck to bringing consumer electronics to market.

THE SOLUTION: TWO NEW HP 83000 MULTIMEDIA SERIES MODELS

The HP 83000 multimedia series tests integrated multimedia chips, such as graphics accelerators and multimedia processors, including those with embedded audio CODECs. The HP 83000 Model P tester is targeted for manufacturers needing a higher-performance, yet cost-effective, solution for production testing of multimedia processors. HP's lowest-cost option, the HP 83000 Model C tester, is designed for high-volume production testing of low-cost ICs. It operates at lower frequencies than the HP 83000 Model P and also is capable of production analog testing. It is targeted at test houses that require the lowest-cost manufacturing test.

The HP 83000 multimedia series of testers allows for instantaneous switching among testing of memory, logic or scan. The ability to shift rapidly from testing one function to another improves the overall quality of the test because it more accurately simulates "real-world" use. -0-

-- Analog -- The HP SmartDSP Smart Waveform Instrument is a fully integrated component of the HP 83000 multimedia series testers. Optional add-on analog test capabilities include the Smart Video Sampler, Smart Waveform Generator, Smart Analog Clock and Smart Capture Memory, which have been added to the HP Smart DSP suite. The Smart Waveform Instrument and other optional analog test tools expand the analog test capability of the HP 83000 tester to include static and dynamic test and measurements, such as distortion and signal-to-noise ratio. To reduce test times, HP's SmartDSP features a special processor-per-analog channel architecture that fully supports multisite testing of high-pin-count multimedia devices.

To reduce test-program development time, the HP 83000 multimedia series testers provide ready-to-use templates to help digital-test engineers write analog tests. These templates are ready-to-run, digital-style, analog test functions with graphical setup and result screens. This permits the direct execution of mixed-signal tests without compilation and enables test engineers who are not familiar with mixed-signal testing to develop tests quickly.

-- Memory -- The HP 83000 multimedia series testers feature a hardware-per-pin algorithmic pattern generator (APG) designed for testing the embedded-memory portions of a multimedia chip. The APG can be programmed to generate address/data and control signals to as many pins as needed, in contrast to competitive systems, which can handle only a limited number of pins.

Representing a significant technology advance, the test processor-per-pin is now controlled by a high-level algorithmic pattern description (ALPAD), which is translated via an HP-developed methodology into a per-pin executable code. This results in simplified test setup and programming, due to the independence of the ALPAD from the underlying hardware -- without any of the typical hardware restrictions found in alternative solutions.