Test and measurement

Article Abstract:

The boundary scan method of designing testability into microelectronics and printed-circuit boards was incorporated in a diverse range of products introduced in 1990, from application-specific integrated circuits to logic analyzers. The modulation domain analysis technique for communications testing challenged to become part of mainstream applications within and outside communications, including disk-drive testing. The first products using the VME extensions for instrumentation (VXI) modular instrumentation bus adopted as a standard in the late 1980s were unveiled in 1990 as well. Automatic test equipment (ATE) vendors are attempting to overcome sluggish sales by integrating many functions in a single tester or by making systems smaller and less expensive; increasing chip development costs are moving testing from the completed package to the wafer level.

Instruments to measure electricity, Circuit design, Product introduction, Microelectronics, Business conditions, Trends, Industry Analysis, Measurement, New Technique, Automatic Test Equipment, Review of Past Year

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Logic comes to the rescue

Article Abstract:

A change in microprocessor logic enables Chrysler engineers to find a quick solution to a problem in their Ultradrive A604 electronic transmission unit. An oil seal between two hydraulic circuits began leaking intermittently during shifts from third to fourth gear, causing reversion to the second gear fail-safe mode. Accumulating dirt in seal grooves leads to improper seating and hydraulic fluid leakage. This malfunction alters the functioning of the real-time controller, leading to variances in fluid volume. The temporary solution was to alter the logic so that when the shift from third to fourth gear takes too long, the controller reverts to third gear and tries again. Two redesigned seals replaced the faulty ones in production transmissions by Feb 1989.

Motor vehicles and car bodies, Microprocessor, Product information, CPUs (Central processing units), Automobile industry, Motor vehicles, Logic circuits, Logic Circuitry, Product Failures, technical, Chrysler Motors Corp.

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Microelectronic ghost story

Article Abstract:

The electronic bugs that happen sporadically for no apparent reason, and that never happen when their cause is trying to be determined, are the most aggravating. One such bug was uncovered by Unisys staff scientist, Roger Lund, in 1986. Lund tried to find out why memory leads sometimes shorted in memory chips during vibration tests. The answer turned out to be loose strands of gold-silicon compound on the chip. It took an electron microscope survey of the defective chips to discover loose fibers lying across adjacent I-O leads. The strands are part of the compound that bonds the die to the package. A subsequent analysis of the chip manufacturing process revealed that more cover gas was needed during fabrication in order to prevent silicon oxidation.

Research, Integrated circuits, Unisys Corp., UIS, Semiconductor Preparation, Case Study, Lund, Roger

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