“We have been able to cut the overall test time in half compared to our previous test methods, which has contributed to development of higher quality products in a shorter period of time. Faster test times have significantly reduced the time it takes to collect large amounts of data during the development phase, which has led to speedy debugging of products and shortened development cycles. And, of course, we receive a great benefit in reducing the capital expenditures for the production lines, obtaining more tested units from a fewer number of testers and handlers.
– Takahiro Watanabe, Development Section II, Product Department II, Communication Module Products Division, Murata Manufacturing Co., Ltd.
The Customer
Murata is a leading worldwide manufacturer of wireless device components,enabling the adoption of more and more wireless features and standards in today’s smart phones and tablets. Murata’s expertise in multi-layer ceramic capacitors (MLCC) and wireless modules allows the inclusion of more wireless standards and radio frequency bands in today’s advanced mobile devices. Murata’s products are found in the wireless heart of many of today’s hottest mobile consumer electronics.
The Need
Murata develops compact modules for portable devices such as smart phones using a variety of chipsets from multiple chip vendors to meet product platform and customer requirements. Today, development cycles of chipsets, modules, and end-user products continued to be compressed due to market pressures. However, chip vendors have different ways of controlling chipsets, and each chipset has unique test and calibration requirements. This required Murata to develop customized measurement software for each chipset – and rapidly.
Before even winning an order for a new module design, Murata may need to test hundreds of pieces so that the end customer is sure the design is stable and manufacturable in volume. These design cycles are often measured in just weeks, and sometimes Murata engineers would resort to taking data manually as there was no time to develop automated test software. Once a design “socket” was secured, Murata needed to spend significant resources to accelerate development of automated measurement software for a multitude of chipsets with different control and calibration routines. Engineers were pressured not only to deliver working solutions in days, but also had to squeeze out every possible second of test time to ensure profit margins could be maintained.
The Solution
Murata needed to compress their test times to maintain costs, maintain the utmost quality that tier one electornics companies demand, and achieve volume production with ever shorter production timelines. Murata chose LitePoint to help them meet this challenge. LitePoint was able to provide a unique solution of test equipment and software to enable Murata to achieve their needs.
Murata decided to adopt LitePoint IQview ® 802.11a/b/g/n WLAN Tester and LitePoint IQflex ® 802.11a/b/g/n Test Solution platfroms for their product development and manufacturing needs, and later moved to the multi-radio LitePoint IQ2010 Multicom™ Tester platform, which supports WiFi, Bluetooth, FM,WiMAX, and GPS.
One of their deciding factors to go with LitePoint was LitePoint IQfact measurement software which provides Murata with a total test solution thatcontrols the chipset, the LitePoint test equipment,and provides all required automated data collection and device calibration routines. LitePoint works closely with key wireless semiconductor suppliers early in the silicon development, often developing solutions before the silicon is even in volume production. The LitePoint IQfact software enables Murata to get automated test data earlier in the module design process, allowing Murata to provide large amounts of characterization data to their customers, in turn, helping Murata win new designs more quickly. Once ready for volume production, the optimized solution cut test time and enable Murata to get the most from their LitePoint equipment.
The Benefits
Faster time to market, reduced capital expenditure: “We have been able to cut the overall test time in half compared to our previous test method, which has contributed to development of higher quality products in a shorter period of time. Faster test times have significantly reduced the time it takes to collect large amounts of data during the development phase, which has led to speedy debugging of products and shortened development cycles. And, of course, we receive a great benefit in reducing the capital expenditures for the production lines, obtaining more tested units from a fewer number of testers and handlers,” says Watanabe.
Meet aggressive test cost goals with sequence based test methodology: Murata is able to meet ever more aggressive test cost goals with the sequence based test methodology offered in the LitePoint test platform. This patented technology tests numerous WLAN data rates in one burst saving up to 4X the test time of traditional methods. For RX testing, the sequence based test technology performs Packet Error Rate (PER) sweeps in less time than it might take to test just one power level using traditional techniques. All of this allows Murata to provide the industry’s highest quality products, with a faster test cycle time, reducing manufacturing test costs.
Ability to quickly develop a variety of modules with limited resources: For a major new chipset, LitePoint begins developing LitePoint IQfact well before the release of the chipset because of their unique partnership with chipset manufacturers. This enables Murata to have almost no lag time between the chipset release and when they are able to begin automatic measurement of their modules. “Previously we used to start software development after a chipset had been released, and we had to manually measure in the early phase of development, which resulted in time-consuming tasks to collect necessary data. Now with LitePoint IQfact software, we are able to develop a greater variety of modules with limited resources,” says Watanabe.
Quickly move from development to production for products with multiple communication functionalities such as smartphones and tablet computers: “Since LitePoint IQfact software runs on multiple LitePoint hardware platforms, it is easy for us to transfer a test program from the product development group to the production lines. Two RF ports also make it easy for us to implement ping-pong measurement for improved throughput. We later selected LitePoint IQ2010 for both product development and production for its expandability and cost performance. We were able to smoothly adopt LitePoint IQ2010, because it is easy to make the IQfact software commonly operational across the different LitePoint hardware platforms that Murata employs, with only simple modifications to its settings.”
Quick technical support from LitePoint: “We have been receiving quick technical support from LitePoint engineers since we first adopted LitePoint test solutions. They have addressed our requests, including reducing test time, stabilizing program behaviors, and adding new test items. Now that LitePoint Japan has established its local support system, we look forward to even stronger relationship with LitePoint,” says Watanabe.
