- The terms of the deal, which are not material to Synopsys’ financials, have not been disclosed
- Customers can benefit from increased silicon data analysis to improve design implementation, product yield ramp and manufacturing test efficiency
Synopsys said that it has acquired Qualtera, which provides big data analytics for semiconductor test and manufacturing. It said that the terms of the deal, which are not material to Synopsys’ financials, have not been disclosed.
It said that Qualtera’s advanced analytics technology along with Synopsys Yield Explorer design-centric yield management solution and Synopsys TestMAX test automation solution will provide the foundation for improving the process of using silicon measurements to guide improvements throughout a device’s development and manufacturing lifecycle. It helps in a post-silicon optimization solution that is crucial to maximise efficiencies from design all the way to device shipment.
Sassine Ghazi, general manager, Design Group at Synopsys said, “Maximizing our customers’ success in highly competitive industries requires that both the pre-silicon and post-silicon phases of the silicon lifecycle are fully optimized, and our goal is to provide an end-to-end solution to make it more achievable for our customers. Synopsys’ acquisition of Qualtera underscores our commitment to deliver post-silicon optimization solutions that address the evolving needs of the dynamic semiconductor industry.”
Improve product yield ramps during manufacturing
Early in the device lifecycle, the analysis of silicon data enables improvements in design modeling parameters to be used in subsequent design iterations or in future designs in the same technology node. In the later part of the lifecycle, analytics correlating design information with detailed test result data can be used to improve product yield ramps during manufacturing.
The companies said that the Synopsys Yield Explorer solution helps in the identification of systematic yield limiters due to interactions between the manufacturing process and physical design characteristics. They added that combining the strengths of Yield Explorer with Qualtera’s high-performance analytics will provide faster results and the ability to analyse larger volumes of data for even greater accuracy.
Analytics can also push for improvements on the production test floor. Intelligent analysis of manufacturing and test data can drive specific actions to increase the efficiency of the test process. The company says, “Qualtera’s analytics and production control capabilities provide a perfect complement to Synopsys’ industry-leading TestMAX test automation family. Working together these solutions enable the application of more efficient tests and more accurate failure screening, helping customers to achieve the lowest possible test costs, while ensuring the highest possible shipped product quality.”