Agilent Technologies' New Industry-First Per-Pin, Floating Licenses Help Semiconductor Manufacturers Increase Profitability.PALO ALTO Palo Alto, city, California Palo Alto (păl`ō ăl`tō), city (1990 pop. 55,900), Santa Clara co., W Calif.; inc. 1894. Although primarily residential, Palo Alto has aerospace, electronics, and advanced research industries. , Calif. -- InstaPin Licenses for 93000 SOC (System On a Chip) The electronics for a complete, working product contained on a single chip. While a microcontroller includes all the hardware components required to process instructions, an SoC includes the computer and all required ancillary electronics. Series Tester Lower Cost-of-Test through Higher Asset Utilization in High-Volume Test Agilent Technologies This article needs sources or references that appear in reliable, third-party publications. Alone, primary sources and sources affiliated with the subject of this article are not sufficient for an accurate encyclopedia article. Inc. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :A) today introduced Agilent (Agilent Technologies, Santa Clara, CA, www.agilent.com) The test and measurement subsidiary of HP. In 1999, HP split off the division that started the company into an independent subsidiary named Agilent Technologies. At the time, the $2. InstaPin for the Agilent 93000 SOC Series test system, the industry's first program to offer per-pin licenses that can be shared across pins of a testers, testers on a test floor, and production facilities around the world. This will allow semiconductor manufacturers to purchase only the capability they need, with the ability to quickly and cost-effectively upgrade in the future. "Agilent InstaPin provides the industry's only per-pin software configuration on an SOC platform," said Tom Newsom, vice president and general manager of Agilent's SOC Business Unit. "Each pin of the 93000 Pin Scale digital cards can be software-scaled over its wide memory depth and speed range, allowing test systems to be configured con·fig·ure tr.v. con·fig·ured, con·fig·ur·ing, con·fig·ures To design, arrange, set up, or shape with a view to specific applications or uses: to match device requirements, pin by pin, resulting in maximum asset utilization and minimum capital expenditure." The Agilent InstaPin per-pin licenses can float between pins on a card, cards in a tester, and testers on a test floor or even different production facilities around the world. This allows the Agilent 93000 SOC Series tester to be software-configured instantly to match the next device to be tested. Because no hardware is moved, there is no need to recalibrate and therefore no risk of hardware damage or downtime The time during which a computer is not functioning due to hardware, operating system or application program failure. between tests. Since the per-pin licenses float between pins in a test head, Agilent InstaPin enables instant sharing of the Pin Scale digital cards' features (memory and speed). This unprecedented control over asset utilization results in a test capacity that can be optimized for product mix -- anywhere, anytime, instantly. Because the per-pin licenses are not tied to a specific digital card or tester, the licenses can be used wherever they are needed. This results in maximum utilization of not only the testers but the individual pin features as well. With Agilent InstaPin, semiconductor manufacturers can buy only the capabilities they need to match current testing requirements on a pin-by-pin basis. If a test requires two differential pins at 2.5 Gb/s for PCI Express A high-speed peripheral interconnect from Intel introduced in 2002. Note that although sometimes abbreviated "PCX," PCI Express is not the same as "PCI-X" (see PCI-SIG and PCI-X for comparison). As a result of the confusion, "PCI-E" or "PCIe" is the accepted abbreviation. , a license needs to be purchased for only two pins, not the whole card. The result is lower cost and a smaller capital budget. When a test requirement changes, it is easy to upgrade the test system using software licenses In computing, software that is copyrighted and licensed under a software license is done under a variety of licensing schemes. For end-users there are proprietary licenses and there are free software licenses, and there are proprietary Within these schemes are further classifications. to integrate test of high-speed interfaces, faster processors, or a new class of device. U.S. Pricing and Availability Individual per-pin licenses are priced between $180 and $1,000, and are available now for users of Agilent 93000 Pin Scale digital cards. More information is available at www.agilent.com/see/instapin. About the Agilent 93000 SOC Series The Agilent 93000 SOC Series is the industry's fastest-growing, lowest-cost scalable platform architecture with more than 900 installed systems worldwide. The Agilent 93000 SOC Series is designed to meet both the demanding performance and cost challenges of SOC testing. Models are configured to span the widest range of applications that may require ultra-high-speed digital data rates, up to 10 Gb/s, and the broadest range of mixed-signal and RF capabilities. With this range of capabilities, the 93000 SOC Series is the first choice for subcontract sub·con·tract n. A contract that assigns some of the obligations of a prior contract to another party. intr. & tr.v. sub·con·tract·ed, sub·con·tract·ing, sub·con·tracts manufacturers and the preference for high-volume manufacturing. More information is available at www.agilent.com/see/soctest. More information about Agilent's semiconductor test products is available at www.agilent.com/see/atenews. About Agilent Technologies Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE:A) is a global technology leader in communications, electronics, life sciences and chemical analysis. The company's 28,000 employees serve customers in more than 110 countries. Agilent had net revenue of $7.2 billion in fiscal year 2004. Information about Agilent is available on the Web at www.agilent.com. NOTE TO EDITORS: Further technology, corporate citizenship Corporate Citizenship The extent to which businesses are socially responsible in meeting legal, ethical and economic responsibilities placed on them by shareholders. The aim it to create higher standards of living and quality of life in the community in which it operates, while and executive news is available on the Agilent news site at www.agilent.com/go/news. |
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