Advanced Capabilities of PXI-Based Semiconductor Test Systems

The ongoing challenge for today’s semiconductor test engineers is to identify and create new test solutions that can offer significantly lower test costs as well as address the need for configurable, open-architecture, flexible test solutions that can provide comparable features to proprietary ATE platforms. In particular, for test requirements with low to moderate volumes — such as pilot production, verification, and focused production test applications — the need for flexible and cost-effective ATE solutions is particularly acute. For these applications, test engineers historically have relied upon legacy test systems that have a low acquisition cost, but high operating costs or in-house designed rack-and-stack solutions. However, semiconductor test system solutions based on the PXI platform have made significant advancements in functionality and performance over the past three or four years, offering test engineers a viable alternative for both current and future test needs.