At a glance
| Booth | I2410 |
| Country | TW |
| Website | www.ni.com/semiconductor |
Company profile
National Instruments Corporation reports that NI semiconductor test customers achieve a 10X improvement in test times while maintaining measurement and performance requirements. For smart-device testing, organizations are moving from traditional ATE and box instruments toward a platform-based approach. NI's platform-based approach spans characterization through production and provides cost-optimized, high-performance RF and mixed-signal test solutions.
Exhibits
Wideband 5G device validation covers traditional cellular frequency ranges below 6 GHz in frequency range 1 (FR1) and millimeter-wave conditions above 24 GHz in frequency range 2 (FR2). The devices under test must address carrier-aggregated scenarios, increasingly dense modulation schemes, tighter time-division duplex configurations, and high-accuracy beamforming. In collaboration with 5G market leaders, NI has developed a modern lab approach intended to drive engineering efficiency as 5G design test cases increase in number and complexity. That lab approach combines fast, reliable, open measurement software with a modular workbench of tightly synchronized instrumentation spanning precision DC through wideband RF. The synchronized software and instrumentation support workflows across lab roles, from interactive bring-up and debug to extensive automated validation and characterization. NI also provides guidance on RF testing practices and on using RF instruments for measurements required in RF characterization tests. For wideband 5G RF front-end bring-up, debug, and validation, NI combines application software with PXI instrumentation and lets engineers control DC, digital, and RF instruments through a GUI without programming. The same setup evaluates critical RF amplifier parameters including linearity, output power, efficiency, and modulation quality while running current linearization algorithms. NI's semiconductor solutions are positioned to scale from the laboratory to the production floor and include testing support for analog, mixed-signal, 5G, and RF devices. Its semiconductor manufacturing investments include software, systems, and automatic test equipment (ATE) intended for changing test requirements throughout the process. The VST portfolio, including the Core VST, is presented for balancing RF performance, cost, and size, with demonstrations ranging from quick interactive measurements to system-level RF validation and characterization. NI identifies wireless research, design and prototyping; wireless device validation and characterization; mixed-signal IC validation and characterization; semiconductor production test; power semiconductor reliability test; and wafer and parametric test as key areas of expertise. For 6G research, NI describes work involving the FR3 band, integrated sensing and communications identified as ISAC or JCAS, open RAN architectures, and AI as an underlying technology. Named wireless research offerings include a Wireless Communications Prototyping Solution, a 6G AI/ML Research RF Data Recording Solution, a 6G Research OAI Software Testbed Solution, and a 6G Sub-THz Testbed Solution. Wireless-device validation offerings include the RF Front-End Module Validation Solution, mmWave OTA Validation Solution, FMCW Radar Sensor Validation Solution, Wi-Fi Front-End Module Validation Solution, Ultra-Wideband Wireless Device Solution, Rapid VT Active Load Pull Solution, and O-RAN Radio Unit Production Test Solution. Mixed-signal IC work is supported by the Power Management IC Validation Solution, Low-Dropout Regulator Validation Solution, Signal Chain Component Validation Solution, Power & Performance Validation, Semiconductor Device Control Solution, and Digital Protocol Validation Solution. For high-volume production, NI describes alternatives to traditional semiconductor ATE for advanced RF, mixed-signal, and optoelectronic devices and lists the Semiconductor Test System (STS), MEMS Production Test Solution, and RF Production Test Solutions. Power semiconductor reliability coverage includes Dynamic H(3)TRB & DRB, Dynamic Gate Stress (DGS), Static H(3)TRB & HTGB, IOL & Power Cycling test solutions, and Power Semiconductor Testing as a Service. For wafer and parametric work, NI describes the need for advanced capabilities and high parallelism as transistor geometries shrink and lists a Wafer Level Reliability Test Solution and Wafer Yield Management Solution. NI's validation workflows also cover visual debugging, real-time validation, collaborative tools, and hands-on use of NI InstrumentStudio™ software for workflow optimization. Customer examples include Qualcomm cutting RF validation time by 30% with NI PXI RF instruments, NI software, and global collaboration, and FitTech using an NI PXI SMU to address MiniLED throughput as wafer chip counts rise to tens of millions. Other examples include Imec using electrical wafer-level tests to detect process-related issues early, manage yield drops, optimize R&D process flow, reduce costs, and decrease time to market, and NXP using automation and standardization in semiconductor validation. NI defines 5G device testing as verification of the performance, functionality, and safety of 5G-enabled devices such as smartphones, tablets, and IoT devices under different network conditions. The test scope includes RF validation, mmWave Over-the-Air (OTA) validation, performance and reliability checks, safety and compliance, and evaluation against consumer expectations and regulatory standards. NI lists feature bring-up, functional testing, negative testing, regression testing, KPI testing, data-throughput testing, and overall device-performance assessment among the forms of 5G testing. Its 5G device-test solutions cover RF validation and characterization, wideband RF design validation, and mmWave OTA validation, with measurement-oriented software controlling multichannel DC, digital, analog, and wideband RF instruments for interactive and automated design-validation sequences. NI distinguishes 5G LTE, 5G TF, and 5G NR, and states that 5G NR uses both sub-6 GHz and millimeter-wave frequencies and uses 3GPP Release 15 standards. Across the device-development lifecycle, NI describes tests for early chipset development, device integration and optimization, conformance, regulatory work, and carrier acceptance. The listed test types include 5G UE testing with real-time performance information connected to a gNodeB, path-loss measurement, antenna testing for radiation pattern, efficiency and gain, OTA testing for devices with embedded antennas, power validation, wireless-standards validation, and protocol testing. Additional test coverage includes real-time spectrum analysis using overlapping FFTs on continuous input data, fixed wireless access, adding 5G NR capabilities to LTE and legacy test systems, and protocol-conformance testing across FR1 and FR2 for 5G NSA and SA modes. NI describes network emulators that reproduce real-world LAN/WAN conditions for feature bring-up, functional, negative, regression, KPI, data-throughput, and overall performance tests in a controlled laboratory setting. Its channel-emulator description covers delay, Doppler effects, attenuation, multipath fading, dynamic propagation and blocking scenarios, broad signal bandwidth, many fading channels, and support for technologies including 5G NR, LTE Advanced, and WLAN standards. NI also describes network scanners for automated device discovery, UDP and TCP service discovery, operating-system and filtering identification, network inventory, vulnerability and misconfiguration identification, notifications, and reporting. Browser-based test environments provide interactive manual testing with on-the-fly adjustment and sequencer-driven automated scenarios for RF parameter measurements, protocol tests, performance analysis, and extensive validation. To simplify device validation, NI combines software-connected test systems with synchronized instruments from precision DC to wideband RF, offers a stand-alone 5G New Radio Test User Equipment for infrastructure providers and operators, and uses a mmWave PXI Vector Signal Transducer at the center of OTA validation for radiation-pattern and beam-characteristic assessment.
Capabilities and products
- RF and mixed-signal semiconductor testing
- wideband 5G device validation
- 5G RF front-end bring-up, debug and validation
- RF front-end module validation
- mmWave OTA validation
- O-RAN radio-unit production testing
- power-management IC validation
- semiconductor production testing
- MEMS production testing
- wafer-level reliability testing
- power-semiconductor reliability testing
- wafer yield management
- RF production testing
- wafer and parametric testing