Category Archives: Supply Chain

SoC Manufacturing and Test Trends

Technology Trends
 
Process technology is progressing at a very fast pace and 16/14nm FinFET- based SOCs are available from various fabless companies. Significant investments in the development of advanced technology nodes are being made to ensure that future demands are met. This makes fab utilization of primary importance.

How to Design and Make a Custom Analog IC in 44 Days

Recently we worked with a customer that had an urgent need to get a custom analog ASIC (application specific integrated circuit) developed in a very short time. The customer needed a completely working system in the first quarter of 2015. Working backwards from their system schedule they realized that they

My Golden Rule for Chip Production Testing

Chip production testing is probably the most underestimated task by ASIC development engineers. And yet, testing is an essential step with a direct impact on final chip cost.
 
Let’s start with the basics. Testing of chips is necessary because the chip manufacturing process cannot provide 100% yield. Silicon foundries

Die Per Wafer (free) Calculator – trusted by GF and Amkor

Calculating the number of Dies Per Wafer (DPW) is a very simple and straight forward task. It’s actually based on basic high school mathematics which are related to circle area formula, remember Pi?
Silicon dies which are placed on a wafer can also be described as many squares placed

Six ways to improve chip yield rate- before the project starts

Early on in Chip projects, yield is not taken very seriously. The common thinking goes –  anyhow there isn’t much to do as this early point of time. However, there are actually several things you can do even before the Chip design starts, which will translate to clear savings.

1-

QFN Package Overview

QFN package is probably the most successful package type today. Offering low price, excellent performance and small size, it is an ideal package for many applications.

 
QFN (quad-flat no-leads) is a plastic SMT package consisting of: a leadframe, single or multiple dies, wirebonds and a molding compound. The