Advantest Corporation is continuing to increase the value of its V93000 platform in engineering environments with the introduction of its EXA Scale EX test station, designed for structural and functional test bring up, debugging and characterization of complex digital devices. The highly compact and cost-efficient EXA Scale EX provides an optimized solution for boosting the capacity of engineering labs while also being fully compatible with high-volume manufacturing, making it easy for engineers to integrate newly developed test content into production-worthy test programs. The EXA Scale EX is well suited for use by high-volume chip makers as well as startup companies and design houses. The three-slot test head presents the most economical means of setting up a heavily concentrated engineering lab that includes a minimal footprint, low power consumption and a highly automated engineering test cell with integrated temperature control.

When the new test head is paired with Advantest's M4171 handler, a lab's testing capacity can be quadrupled, without augmenting the existing floor space. In addition, mounting cameras on the handler can allow engineers to monitor the test cell's operation while working remotely. The EXA Scale EX facilitates the quick and easy transfer of test content between engineering and manufacturing because both environments can use identical instruments and software, including a V93000-compatible DUT board, digital channel cards, device power supplies and the SmarTest 8 tester software.

The resulting benefits include faster bring up and pattern validation of digital devices, which speed up the pace of new product introductions.