semiconductor test data collection and analysis framework

Full Integration from Datalog to Final Report

Efficient data analysis is vital for test engineers, aiming to understand the behavior and characteristics of semiconductor devices during the development phase as well as maintain yield in production. BARNIE provides a fully integrated approach for the collection of data coming from the various testing phases and the extraction of essential information of it.

Engineers need highly detailed test data on every device for understanding the device behavior and the measurement on a high number of devices to get sufficient statistics for reaching the right conclusion. The special features of BARNIE make it the ideal tool for these requirements.

• Accepts test data from a wide range of input formats and is easily customizable for specific data sources.
• Stores test results in a hierarchical structure optimized for high resolution, large size measurement data on a high number of components.
• Provides an easy-to-use graphical user interface for efficient interactive operations and a powerful technology for the automation of the repetitive analysis tasks.

BARNIE is built of three components; each of them can be licensed singularly or integrated with the others.

• BarnieDAC, a test data collection and retrieval system.
• BarnieCOR, a flexible test data processing and correlation software.
• BarnieMAT, a tool dedicated to the analysis of memory arrays.

Flexible Data Input and Storage

The data collection system is based on an abstract model describing the datalog of the test executions. Every tool wanting to access the datalogs ‘sees’ this model, in this way the processing is disconnected from the actually used input format.

Each input format requires a driver which adapts the source to the datalog model, enabling easy customization for specific data sources. STDF and XML drivers are part of the system.

Datalogs can be loaded in the BARNIE database. The database has been implemented with a particular technology keeping the number of records low even at high number of measurements; on the other hand, it provides the maximal flexibility to store various types of measurement results.

Results with a Few Clicks

A graphical framework has been developed with the goal to minimize the effort needed for the everyday utilization. Every common task can be activated with a few mouse clicks, users can focus on their analysis tasks rather than on learning software features. The modules running in the framework communicate among them, it is extremely easy to pass the result of a processing step to the successive one as well as trace back and reach source data from the synthesized result of a data reduction process.

• All viewer, editor and control tools accessible from a single framework.
• The layout of the screen can be defined by the user. Multiple windows can be arranged on the screen for correlating measurements or views or a single measurement can be consulted in full-screen mode to consult details.

Interactive and Automated Analysis

Beyond the straightforward interactive operation provided by the graphical framework, BARNIE supports the automation of the repetitive analysis tasks.

• Analysis flows can be defined by a powerful scripting language. The language includes variable management, complex flow control including subroutines, the possibility of parameterization of the execution of the script.
• The script implementation is supported by an efficient built-in editor, with context sensitive help, word extension, dialog box for command parameters, syntax checker and syntax coloring.
• Processing functions are implemented as “Stored Procedures”, contained by Windows DLLs.
• User can add his/her own processing functions by implementing the code in MFC C++ language, supported by an extensive library.
• Processing functions can be selected interactively by a hierarchically organized list.
• The graphical framework extracts interface information from the stored procedures and displays on-line help and parameter input dialog box for immediate execution of for pasting in a script.