Aeroflex Announces Multiple Products for Characterization and Production Test of Consumer RF and Mixed Signal Semiconductors
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AX-Series brings new level of price/performance to ATE market with AXIe and PXI-based systems and modules
SEMICON WEST 2011-SAN FRANCISCO- Aeroflex Incorporated, a wholly owned subsidiary of Aeroflex Holding Corp. (NYSE:ARX), is launching the AX-Series at SEMICON West today, a completely new product line for characterization and production testing of consumer RF and mixed-signal semiconductors.
The AX-Series is designed for consumer Integrated Device Manufacturers (IDMs) and fabless semiconductor manufacturers who develop cost-sensitive integrated circuits (ICs) and need less expensive test systems to perform critical characterization and production testing.
Bringing a new level of price/performance to the Automated Test Equipment (ATE) market, the AX-Series is based on industry standard AXIe and PXI modules. AX-Series products are available as turnkey systems or configurable subsystem modules for customers who prefer to build or augment their own ATE systems.
AX-Series addresses gap in ATE market
"The AX-Series leverages a growing portfolio of AXIe modules and couples those with a large selection of PXI modules to address a growing gap in the market. Today's production ATE systems are overkill for silicon debug and characterization in terms of pin count, size, and pricing. Existing PXI-only ATE systems support limited channel counts and performance. The AX-Series addresses this gap with industry standards-based ATE performance spanning the complete range of DC, digital, mixed-signal, and RF requirements," said Len Borow, CEO, Aeroflex Incorporated.
The AX-Series includes numerous products spanning a range that extends from cost-effective benchtop semiconductor characterization systems to high-volume production test systems. The complete product line offers traditional semiconductor ATE performance for labs in a low-cost form factor-and enables the development of low-cost production test systems for RF and mixed signal ICs and modules.
Target customers for the AX-Series include IDMs and fabless semiconductor companies who are:
o Developing consumer RF and mixed-signal ICs and/or modules;
o Have device complexity that requires ATE performance in the engineering lab for debug and characterization;
o Require low cost structure and flexibility that AXIe and PXI solutions offer; and,
o Adding on to their existing ATE systems to extend the life of their ATE capital equipment.
RF devices targeted by the AX-Series include discretes, power amplifiers, front-end modules, tuners, RFID, Near Field Communication (NFC), Zigbee®, Bluetooth®, WLAN, and transceivers. Consumer mixed-signal devices targeted include wired communications, audio/video, interface, modems/CODECs, microcontrollers, and MEMs.
"Customers will see improved engineering productivity, lower capital costs, and lower cost of ownership with systems powerful enough to address their needs," said Ron Williamson, product manager, Aeroflex Test Solutions.
System Configurations, Price, and Availability
Turnkey integrated systems are available in several different configurations and leverage industry standard AXIe and PXI chassis.
o The WRX is a turnkey 20 slot PXI RF system which supports typical configurations of 2 to 16 bi-directional vector ports that capable of performing S-parameters, continuous wave (CW), multi-tone, and full modulation to 6 GHz on each port.
o The AX500 is a 5 slot AXIe system which supports typical configurations of 12-48 device power supplies and 48-192 400 MB digital pins.
o The AX520 is a combination 5 slot AXIe + 20 slot PXI system which supports 12-48 device power supplies, 48-192 400 MB digital pins, and 2-16 RF ports.
o The AX1020 & AX1040 are 10 slot AXIe and 20/40 slot PXI systems which support 12-96 power supplies, 48-384 400 MB digital pins, and 2-32 RF ports.
The AX-Series of test systems are based on widely adopted development tools augmented with system level multi-site support, calibration, and production tools. The AX-Series systems are also compatible with AXIe and PXI instrument cards and software from third party suppliers.
Pricing for the AX-Series starts at U.S. $95,000 for a minimally configured AX500 system. The AX-Series is a highly configurable product line and each system price will vary depending upon instruments and accessories ordered.
For more information, contact your local Aeroflex sales office by visiting or calling Aeroflex Sales at (800) 835-2352 or info-test@aeroflex.com.
About Aeroflex
Aeroflex Incorporated is a leading global provider of microelectronic components and test and measurement equipment used by companies in the space, avionics, defense, commercial wireless communications, medical and other markets.
