Employing different hardware platforms means that existing lab equipment can be reused, making the transition from R&D to manufacturing easier. Indeed, any test executive integration can be completed before manufacturing may be reused. Separate sources and analyzers are generally used in R&D laboratories, while manufacturing prefers a one-box tester (OBT).

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Reducing Support To End Customers

Contract manufacturers that want to test a new product line can focus almost exclusively on use of the test vendor’s software, provided the manufacturer has all the required installations and components in place from the silicon partner. The test vendor’s tools for the manufacturing engineer also have significant benefits for silicon vendors and module vendors. By working with test equipment vendors to optimize and refine the test equipment’s chipset control software, the silicon vendor can reduce support loading from manufacturers.

The process required to achieve certification in partnership with the test vendor is completed once per chipset solution. It does not need to be replicated across a range of different end users, such as a number of contract manufacturers. This also means that the silicon vendor can endorse the test equipment vendor solution and promote it to manufacturers interested in adopting new silicon.

Summary

Test equipment vendors are transforming their RF test solutions to make the solutions smarter. Packaged, off-the-shelf, chipset-specific test vendor solutions reduce time-to-market for test engineers needing to automate and test specific silicon vendors’ chipsets. Validated by the silicon vendor, the test plan runs optimized tests suitable for R&D through to manufacturing, supported by different hardware platforms. The software supports different device implementations and allows for the software API to be integrated into any test executive.

Such off-the-shelf, chipset-specific test vendor solutions provide added value to end users and offer significant benefits compared to some existing test vendor chipset solutions. Contract manufacturers can focus on integration into their test executive. In turn, silicon vendors collaborating with test vendors can ensure that the correct test plans are being used along with the correct calibration and test algorithms. This reduces the need for silicon vendors to support customers, relying instead on test equipment vendors to offer consistent test solutions to their end users who wish to adopt the silicon vendor’s chipset and subsequently test it.

References:

Agilent N7300 Series Chipset Software, Technical Overview, literature number 5989-7920EN