SynTest Expands Its Electronic Design Debugging Product Line, Introduces TurboDebug for SOC Memory-BIST Debug

TurboDebug-SOC/Memory locates and diagnoses faults in embedded SOC memories, User-friendly software runs on a PC, Annotates debug results on PC display

NEW ORLEANS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 10, 2002-- SynTest Technologies, Inc. (Sunnyvale, California), the leading supplier of DFT (Design-for-Test) tools and services for SOC designs today announced TurboDebug(TM)-SOC/Memory, the second member of its Design for Debug/Diagnosis (DFD) product line.

TurboDebug-SOC/Memory reduces the cost of test and debug for SOCs with large BISTed embedded memories and is being demonstrated this week at the Design Automation Conference here at booth #1954.

Ravi Apte, Vice President of Marketing and Business Development at SynTest, noted, "We are all about reducing the cost of test. Our new TurboDebug product adds the ability to design and debug SOC memory, when using a BIST methodology. It further expands our DFD product line from PCB debugging to embedded memory debugging."

TurboDebug-SOC/Memory debugs and diagnoses failures on large embedded memories. It tests and debugs BISTed embedded SRAM/ROM memory on ASICs/SOCs. It enables users to detect memory failures down to the bit level. The testing and diagnosis is easy to perform using pull-down menus. Error types and locations of the errors are displayed on the PC screen.

The Problem SynTest's TurboDebug-SOC/Memory Solves

Today ASICs/SOCs demand more embedded memories than ever before. More than 30% of premium space and 50% of the transistors could be allocated to memory alone, and the memory blocks can be located at physically diverse locations in the circuit. This mandates that to ensure reduced failure rates and increased quality, the embedded memories be tested thoroughly. Built-In Self-Test (BIST) for memories is a solution that has rapidly become popular.

More about SynTest's TurboDebug Product Line

TurboDebug-SOC/Memory operates on a PC that has a PCI slot and runs Linux. All communication between the PC and the chip-under-test is via boundary scan (JTAG) connections. It comes with an interface board that plugs into the PCI-slot of a PC, and a demo system board. For testing, users connect the PC-based interface board via a 9-pin or a 25-pin DB connector to boundary scan pins (TDO, TDI, TCK, TMS and TRST) on the user's system board.

TurboDebug-PCB, introduced last year at the International Test Conference, includes the software and hardware needed to debug test problems on prototype PCBs prior to expensive, time-consuming, full production testing. It detects, diagnoses and locates interconnect (wiring) faults on PCBs populated by one or more IC or SOC.

Price and Availability

TurboDebug-SOC/Memory is available for beta testing now. Production units will ship end of 2002. Pricing for SynTest's TurboDebug product line starts at $50,000(USD). SynTest's TurboDebug products run on Linux.

About SynTest

SynTest Technologies, Inc. develops and markets DFT and fault simulation software tools and offers consulting services throughout the world to semiconductor companies, ASIC designers and test groups. The Company's products improve an electronic design's testability and fault coverage and result in not only reduced defect levels and costly tester time, but also reduced slippage in time-to-market.

SynTest's DFT products include: memory BIST for testing embedded memories; logic BIST for "at-speed" testing of logic blocks; a boundary-scan (JTAG) test suite; a DFT integration tool suite; DFT testability checkers for RTL and gate-level netlists; a partial-scan and full-scan synthesis; and ATPG tool suite and a super-fast concurrent fault simulator. For more information visit, www.syntest.com.

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Acronyms:

ASIC:             Application Specific IC
ATPG:             Automatic Test Pattern Generator
BIST:             Built In Self-Test
DFD:              Design for Debug/Diagnosis
DFT:              Design-for-Test
IC:               Integrated Circuits
JTAG:             Joint Test Action Group
PC:               Personal Computer
PCB:              Printed Circuit Board
RTL:              Register Transfer Level
SOC:              System-on-Chip

TurboDebug is a trademark of SynTest Technologies, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

     ValleyPR for SynTest
     Georgia Marszalek, 650/345-7477
     Georgia@ValleyPR.com