DFT Digest

Although there is little in the way of Design for Test material there, just thought I’d mention Semicon West 2007, happening in a couple of weeks (July 16-20 at Moscone Center in San Francisco). The thrust is definitely aimed at the technology of test, which, for all you front-end designers, is the place where your designs are made profitable. The focus of Semicon are extremely challenging technologies that somehow keep a half-step ahead of IC design, in order to be able to test the faster and bigger designs coming down the pike. I’ve been out of the ‘test engineering’ field for over 10 years, and I can’t believe what these people are doing!

If you look at the subjects of discussion at Semicon, it makes me wonder, beyond the obvious DFM link, why, earlier this month, Magma CEO Rajeev Madhaven suggested that DAC be combined with Semicon. Yes, there is a meeting place between Design and Manufacturing, but the enabling technologies are very different. It might be interesting for a couple of years to expose IC designers to test technology for the wow factor. But after that, the different crowds would be attending to their own interests.

Maybe Mr. Madhaven was just thinking it’s be easier to support one less show…