Chip lifecycle / Test program lifecycle / Test End of Life

Test End of Life

Closing the test side of a product at its end of life: tester and hardware capacity for the last-time buy, spare hardware for the final builds, the last test runs, and an archive of the program, patterns, hardware design data and test data kept for the retention period agreed with customers, before hardware is retired.

Where this stage sits

This stage with its neighbours. Each row is a discipline active here, shaded by how mature its work is by the end of each stage.

Stage

^D10 Yield & Test Data Monitoring

^A11 Sustaining & Program Maintenance

^O12 Test End of LifeYou are here

Product, test cost and quality milestones

VRVolume test ramp SRTest sustaining review EPTest end-of-life plan agreed

Test engineering milestones

CAPTest capability sign-off PTRProduction test release YBYield baseline established TATest program archived

Test program management and cost^A

1.0

Test program development^D

Freeze

Probe card engineering^A

Freeze^A

Load boards, sockets and handlers^A

Freeze

Product engineering and yield^D

1.0^DA

Test data and adaptive test^OO

1.0^D

ATE platform and test operations^A

1.0

Test quality and escapes^O

1.0

Key0.0Planned0.3Early draft0.5Draft0.8Feature complete1.0CompleteFreezeFrozenFaded block: still at the step shown before it, Held below Complete or Maintained under change control once complete or frozenFreeze or sign-off pointMilestone for one item; the rest of the work carries onMilestone gateYou are here: Test End of LifeAI impactDisruption (red)Augmentation (blue)Opportunity (green)How AI is changing the workWhat the steps mean What the codes mean

Show this chart as a list

Stages

Product, test cost and quality milestones

Test engineering milestones

Disciplines

Test program management and cost^A
- Yield & Test Data Monitoring: maturity 1.0, Complete. Production test release signed off with the cost of test at target and capacity in place for the ramp; cost reviews and end of life follow.
- Sustaining & Program Maintenance: maturity 1.0, Complete. Production test release signed off with the cost of test at target and capacity in place for the ramp; cost reviews and end of life follow.
- Test End of Life: maturity 1.0, Complete. Production test release signed off with the cost of test at target and capacity in place for the ramp; cost reviews and end of life follow.
Test program development^D
- Yield & Test Data Monitoring: maturity Freeze, Frozen. Production test program released and baselined: every change needs an impact assessment, a correlation check and approval.
- Sustaining & Program Maintenance: maturity Freeze, Frozen. Production test program released and baselined: every change needs an impact assessment, a correlation check and approval.^A
- Test End of Life: maturity Freeze, Frozen. Production test program released and baselined: every change needs an impact assessment, a correlation check and approval.
Probe card engineering^A
- Yield & Test Data Monitoring: maturity Freeze, Frozen. Production probe card sets released with the production test and under change control; maintenance and repairs recorded.^A
- Sustaining & Program Maintenance: maturity Freeze, Frozen. Production probe card sets released with the production test and under change control; maintenance and repairs recorded.^A
- Test End of Life: maturity Freeze, Frozen. Production probe card sets released with the production test and under change control; maintenance and repairs recorded.
Load boards, sockets and handlers^A
- Yield & Test Data Monitoring: maturity Freeze, Frozen. Production hardware sets released with the production test and under change control; maintenance and spares recorded.
- Sustaining & Program Maintenance: maturity Freeze, Frozen. Production hardware sets released with the production test and under change control; maintenance and spares recorded.
Product engineering and yield^D
- Yield & Test Data Monitoring: maturity 1.0, Complete. Correlation signed off: tester, bench, simulation and other testers agree, so yield learning, the yield model and the yield baseline run on trusted data.^DA
- Sustaining & Program Maintenance: maturity 1.0, Complete. Correlation signed off: tester, bench, simulation and other testers agree, so yield learning, the yield model and the yield baseline run on trusted data.
- Test End of Life: maturity 1.0, Complete. Correlation signed off: tester, bench, simulation and other testers agree, so yield learning, the yield model and the yield baseline run on trusted data.
Test data and adaptive test^OO
- Yield & Test Data Monitoring: maturity 1.0, Complete. Outlier screening rules final at the capability sign-off and the data monitoring plan running at production release.^D
- Sustaining & Program Maintenance: maturity 1.0, Complete. Outlier screening rules final at the capability sign-off and the data monitoring plan running at production release.
ATE platform and test operations^A
- Yield & Test Data Monitoring: maturity 1.0, Complete. Capability proven at every production site with the transfer package accepted and operators trained; the floor then ramps and runs.
- Sustaining & Program Maintenance: maturity 1.0, Complete. Capability proven at every production site with the transfer package accepted and operators trained; the floor then ramps and runs.^A
- Test End of Life: maturity 1.0, Complete. Capability proven at every production site with the transfer package accepted and operators trained; the floor then ramps and runs.
Test quality and escapes^O
- Yield & Test Data Monitoring: maturity 1.0, Complete. Test quality signed off for production: coverage, outlier screens and escape controls in place; excursions and escapes handled from then on.
- Sustaining & Program Maintenance: maturity 1.0, Complete. Test quality signed off for production: coverage, outlier screens and escape controls in place; excursions and escapes handled from then on.^A

Register or sign in to read on

The full lifecycle detail, with its charts, flows, tables and every section, is for registered members. Registration is free and takes a minute. You come back to this page afterwards.