Industrial Options For Machine-Studying-Enabled Yield Optimization And Check

This text summarizes the content material of a paper developed and offered by Advantest at ETS 2022.

By Sonny Banwari and Matthias Sauer

In response to market analysis agency Gartner, Inc., in assessing the completion charge of information science initiatives, in addition to the bottom-line worth they generate for his or her firms, solely between 15 and 20 % of those initiatives are ever accomplished. Furthermore, of people who do handle to succeed in completion, lower than 10 % of them generate worth, in accordance with suggestions supplied by company CEOs. The underside line: lower than 2 % of information science initiatives ever get accomplished AND ship worth. How can this squandering of company funding and energy be alleviated? A technique is thru using superior machine studying (ML) methods.

Nonetheless, implementing ML in on-line manufacturing take a look at poses its personal set of challenges. ML-based functions problem conventional take a look at flows and infrastructures, as they require:

• Massive quantities of information, usually by a number of insertions unfold geographically throughout a number of continents and positioned at numerous company entities relying on the place within the worth chain;
• A safe, scalable, and built-in compute infrastructure primarily based on open requirements; and
• A dynamic take a look at execution infrastructure.

A few of these properties really battle with conventional take a look at setups, which ends up in non-standard take a look at flows and creates further work that impacts time to market and return on funding – and, notably, slows success and adoption of ML functions.

Repeatability and reproducibility are important to check procedures, significantly for automotive and different markets that depend on standardization and a excessive diploma of compatibility. This requires establishing extra structured considering round ML and its impression on take a look at. Determine 1 illustrates an industry-ready ML lifecycle designed to convey knowledge science to the take a look at ground.

Fig. 1: The 4 key steps of an ACS-powered machine-learning lifecycle are proven right here.

Enabling the ML ecosystem

Advantest Cloud Options (ACS) is a extremely safe scalable knowledge platform enabling an open resolution ecosystem that helps prospects deal with the most urgent challenges of the Sensible Manufacturing period. The open side of the ecosystem is important, because it permits any firm alongside the availability chain not solely to make use of it however so as to add worth, create partnerships, deploy their very own options, and so forth. ACS gives the important infrastructure piece, in addition to a variety of improvement choices by the ACS Resolution Retailer, whereas Advantest gives different software program services and products that prospects should purchase once they want supplemental providers to enhance or improve their current deployments. Let’s take a quick take a look at every of the 4 key steps of the ML lifecycle.

Downside exploration and understanding

The sooner customers search to determine issues within the manufacturing course of, the extra knowledge they require. Early bad-die detection is an important part of this effort, as predicting doubtless failures post-packaging might help to considerably cut back prices and enhance high quality within the packaging course of. To realize this requires massive quantities of high-quality knowledge. Determine 2 reveals the normal take a look at stream with out advantage of ML methods at left. At proper, our ACS know-how assesses knowledge gathered from prior insertions and correlates it to precisely predict issues, enabling the person to avoid them by fixing issues on the root trigger, thus stopping unhealthy die from reaching downstream take a look at insertions. This reduces not simply the price of take a look at but in addition the price of the supplies and processing wanted as chips journey by the three-month lengthy manufacturing course of throughout continents and firms.

Fig. 2: Utilizing Advantest ACS methods, prospects can omit unhealthy die early within the take a look at cycle to cut back packaging prices and enhance high quality.

Mannequin engineering

Mannequin engineering is a vital step for implementing assessed enterprise necessities and turning them right into a data-driven ML utility, both utilizing a customized implementation or using pre-defined resolution from the ACS Resolution Retailer.

To judge the “ACS Yield Optimization” Reference App described above, we compiled a real-world dataset containing greater than 200 related relaxation outcomes per die from probe take a look at and a number of fail bins from remaining take a look at.

Operating ACS-driven knowledge analytics on the compiled, de-duped knowledge, utilizing one system underneath take a look at (DUT) ID per entry, the instrument makes use of deep learning-based variable choice to find out the variables of best affect on yield. It then creates new probe take a look at limits primarily based on the distribution of this knowledge, eradicating false passes and confirming yield enchancment. Within the aforementioned case, the consequence was a 5% enchancment in yield, from 88% to 93%, which translated to six-digit financial savings per 12 months in U.S. {dollars}.

Fig. 3: ACS Yield Optimization makes use of deep studying to research and optimize variable, leading to greater yields and vital value financial savings.

Deployment and execution

This refers particularly to safe, high-performance take a look at ground integration of ACS with traceable deployments, as famous in determine 1. Determine 4 reveals our ACS Edge core product, which incorporates the ACS Edge Server and ACS Container Hub.

ACS Edge is a high-performance, extremely safe edge compute and analytics resolution that permits ultra-fast algorithmic AI decision-making with millisecond latencies throughout take a look at execution. It connects to the person’s take a look at tools through a personal, high-speed encrypted hyperlink and makes use of the superior container hub to run the person’s protected functions whereas defending and preserving safe the person’s knowledge and analytics.

Fig. 4: Advantest ACS Edge and out there extensions assist prospects simply and securely combine ACS into their take a look at stream, enabling them to comprehend the complete advantages of its ML-enabled capabilities.

Monitoring and validation

For fashions to maneuver from the lab to quantity manufacturing, they should be monitored for any sudden behaviors ensuing from modifications within the product design or the take a look at setting. The effectiveness of an optimization should be validated utilizing real-world eventualities to ensure that a knowledge science undertaking to succeed in completion and contribute to an organization’s total worth.

Semiconductor manufacturing is very influenced by course of variations from die to die, wafer to wafer, or lot to lot, significantly at smaller course of nodes with tighter geometries that afford much less room for deviation. Thus, there’s an inherent threat of “silent” mannequin degradation of when a realized course of attribute modifications, probably impacting the standard of the mannequin (yield, take a look at time, system high quality, take a look at escapes, and so forth.) ACS employs a steady studying loop with steady monitoring, significantly lowering this threat in order that fashions retain their integrity.

ACS Resolution Retailer

One other key piece of the ACS ecosystem that helps create a unified, repeatable workflow is our ACS Resolution Retailer, which gives ease of entry to ACS real-time knowledge infrastructure options and software program functions. This on-line platform permits prospects to find, buy and securely deploy all out there ACS options from Advantest and a broad spectrum of analytics ecosystem companions throughout the semiconductor lifecycle course of. As well as, the ACS Resolution Retailer permits utility builders from these associate companies to publish, promote, distribute and handle their Advantest-certified apps.

This newest side of the ACS choices is significant to take care of an open ecosystem, because it facilitates entry to all ACS choices for patrons, in addition to giving them and our companions the power to develop and publish their very own apps. This enables sharing of latest capabilities and greatest practices in order that the capabilities of our ACS applied sciences could be optimally leveraged throughout firms all through the semiconductor ecosystem.

We proceed to broaden and evolve our Advantest Cloud Options to satisfy evolving buyer calls for. By placing ACS in place inside their take a look at environments, prospects can guarantee they’re armed and prepared for the way forward for semiconductor take a look at.

Matthias Sauer is an utilized analysis undertaking supervisor at Advantest Europe.