Al Crouch leads online discussion of 3D chip test

In a recent online discussion on 3D InCites (www.3Dincites.com), Al Crouch, chief technologist, core instrumentation, gave some eye-opening insights into a topic that’s critical to keeping pace with Moore’s Law. That is, how to test and validate 3D stacks of multiple die in a chip. The interactive discussion appeared on the web portal 3D InCites and was moderated by Francoise Von Trapp, a senior editor for the site. Click here to check out the discussion.

Alan Sguigna’s article in Evaluation Engineering’s December issue was titled “Approaching Board Test Non-intrusively.” The article described how the emergence of embedded instrumentation has enabled a new generation of non-intrusive test methods. Alan points out that non-intrusive test and validation technologies are making up for the test coverage that is being lost by the older intrusive technologies, like in-circuit test (ICT), flying probe and others. Click here to read this informative article.

Brush up on your German to read an interview with Al Crouch that appeared in the Nov. 9, 2009 issue of the German publication, Elektronik Industrie. Click here to see the article on the ASSET web site.

The February issue of the Advanced TCA newsletter features another article by Tim. Once again, this one covers the use of embedded instrumentation to validate and test Xeon® Processor-based ATCA designs. Click here to read this article.

The winter issue of Embedded Intel Solutions magazine features an article by Tim Caffee, vice president of design validation, on how designs based on Intel®’s new Xeon® Processor 5500 Series (codenamed Nehalem) can be tested and validated. The article also appears on the publication’s web site (click here).

Then later in the year, another article by Al on the standards that will have an effect on testing and validating 3D chips will appear in the German publication, Elektronik Producktion & Pruftechnik (EPP) in March and its English language version, Electronics Production and Test, in May.