Tessent TestKompress cell-aware library models now offered in latest release of Arm Artisan Physical IP libraries

Mentor, a Siemens business, today announced that Arm will offer Mentor’s Tessent™ TestKompress™ software cell-aware library models as part of the 18.2 and later EDA specifications used for Arm® Artisan® Physical IP development. This allows Arm’s and Mentor’s mutual customers to more efficiently reap the benefits of Mentor’s Tessent TestKompress automotive-grade ATPG and Tessent Cell-Aware Diagnosis tools, achieving much higher-quality testing with low defects per million (DPM) and dramatically improving yield, especially for newer fabrication technologies. This highly precise level of testing is becoming mandatory to meet increasingly stringent industry quality requirements. It also helps in achieving maximum yield in leading-edge IC manufacturing processes targeting thriving markets such as automotive, IoT, artificial intelligence (AI), and 5G communications.

Mentor’s Tessent TestKompress ATPG tool leverages patented on-chip compression to minimize test cost and increase test quality using technology such as cell-aware ATPG to more effectively detect cell-internal defects in ICs. Using the cell-aware diagnosis option in the Tessent Diagnosis tool, together with the cell-aware libraries provided by Arm, design teams can quickly and more precisely identify specific defect locations within the library cells. This results in better resolution and provides faster diagnosis-driven yield analysis with Tessent YieldInsight™.

“The inclusion of Tessent TestKompress cell-aware library models as part of the latest EDA specification used for Arm Artisan Physical IP development illustrates the benefits that Mentor’s longtime partnership with Arm provides for our many shared customers,” said Brady Benware, senior marketing director for the Tessent product family at Mentor, a Siemens business. “Now, with a single command, customers can immediately start implementing cell-aware test and diagnosis with the Tessent TestKompress and Tessent Cell-Aware Diagnosis tools without having to create cell-aware library models themselves.”

“The complexity of today’s SoC designs call for the industry’s most advanced testing techniques,” said Kelvin Low, vice president of Marketing, Physical Design Group, Arm. “We pride ourselves in developing silicon libraries that allow our customers to achieve success, and offering Tessent TestKompress cell-aware library models enables our customers to achieve success more efficiently.”

The Tessent TestKompress cell-aware library models are available upon request from Arm, and are standard in the 18.2 EDA specification. For more information on Mentor TestKompress and Tessent Cell-Aware Diagnosis, visit  https://www.mentor.com/products/silicon-yield/products/testkompress.