Why Migrate from ICMS to SPECS?

TestChip Technologies now offers a service for migrating from HP's Integrated Circuit Modeling Software (ICMS) to SPECS (Semiconductor Process Evaluation Core Software). The process makes it simpler for HP's parametric test customers to convert to parametric test measurement system. Here are answers to some questions to help you decide if it's appropriate for you.

Why would a customer require services for migration from ICMS to SPECS? Because the system architecture of SPECS allows many new features designed to improve throughput and efficiency of HP's testers, especially the newly released HP 4071A. In order to leverage this system improvement, the data structures for the test programs must be fundamentally changed. TestChip worked closely with HP to develop services to migrate ICMS test plans to SPECS.

Will you still be able to use your old algorithms for testing? Your measurement routines may be preserved. However, there are features of the HP4071 and SPECS that will not be optimally used in the new environment. TestChip and HP will work with customers to ensure algorithms are working as intended by the customer.

How much does it cost? The service from TestChip allows customer business to continue without disruption and allows the system to be brought on-line faster, enabling higher throughput. Each test plan is evaluated individually, due to the vast variety can complexity of test programs. Typical price ranges from $3,995 to $39,995.

How long does a migration take? This depends on the complexity of the test plan, but typical turn around for a customer job is quoted in days, usually less than seven.

What does the customer need to supply? Customers will go through a fact-finder with TestChip to determine the scope and magnitude of the work. Following that session (usually on the customer site), a simple file transfer of existing test files is required. Data measurements will need to be taken for a set of parameters before and after the migration and shipped to TestChip where the company performs a correlation analysis.

What is the quality criteria used? Customer's ICMS files and test programs must be functional in ICMS prior to porting to SPECS. All test files will be tested in offline mode at TestChip to ensure source data integrity. Following migration, TestChip will run the ported test plans on SPECS offline mode to ensure they operate. The data correlation analysis may indicate additional work required by one or both parties.

What hardware and software versions are supported? Migration services are from ICMS v1.5 or greater to SPECS v2.2.

TestChip Technologies, Inc. Phone: 214-348-5875 extension 207