With the growing applications of AI (artificial intelligence), edge-computing, IoT (Internet of Things), and AIoT, there has been an increased demand for various types of chips. These chips all require the use of SRAM (Static Random Access Memory). Thus, how to precisely detect and repair defects in SRAM, and further improve yields and reduce chip production costs is a critical issue.
iSTART-TEK (6786) is a company that specializes in memory testing and repairing solutions. In addition to offering memory testing and repair solutions, the company also provides customized design services, which are essential for chip development. The memory testing and repairing solutions provided by iSTART-TEK can not only increase the yield of chip production, but also reduce the chip development costs.
The EDA tool START v3 (SoC’s memory Testing and Repairing Technology) developed by iSTART-TEK provides high-performance memory testing circuit and high-efficiency memory repairing technology. Currently, there are two memory repairing technologies available, hard-repair and soft-repair. Hard-repair requires the use of NVM (non-volatile memory) as a component to record memory error information, which can greatly shorten the memory repair time. Soft-repair, on the other hand, does not require the use of NVM to record memory error information. If there are enough spare memories, soft-repair can repeat the memory repairing process. The technologies described above can only be used if the memory has spare memories.
In response to semiconductor foundries’ increasing prices, iSTART-TEK has launched the development of the patented memory repairing technology. This technology can effectively utilize the unused SRAM in the SoC (System on Chip) to perform memory repair, saving chips that would have been discarded in the past due to memory defects. With the standalone memory repairing technologies, iSTART-TEK offers a quick and cost-effective memory repair process that improves chip production yields and reduces chip development costs.
The demand for memory has increased due to rising semiconductor foundry prices and increased chip development complexity. To meet this demand, IC design companies need efficient and cost-effective memory test and repair solutions. iSTART-TEK offers a standalone memory based memory repair solution that utilizes unused SRAM in the SoC as spare memory. This solution can significantly reduce chip development costs and improve chip production yield, making iSTART-TEK a crucial player in chip development with promising future prospects.