Mixed-signal microelectronic chips testing...the (very, very) small picture
Gordon Roberts, a James McGill professor of Electronic and Computer Engineering at McGill University, is an international leader in testing mixed-signal microelectronic chips. To the growing mixed-signal industry, chip testing is today's billion-dollar question. As analog/mixed-signal chips grab more of the spotlight from digital chips, manufacturers are facing the fact that testing costs are outstripping production costs.
Roberts, a born teacher, brings props to an interview because he wants the lay person to be able to visualize what he is explaining. He wants to avoid the explanation being too simplistic or too confusing. Chips are shrinking in size and, the way Roberts sees it, testing miniaturized chips with the huge machines used in the past makes no sense. We need to miniaturize the testing process itself, says Roberts. He and his students at McGill are working on reducing all performance measurement functions onto a tiny piece of silicon, which can be built right onto the chip.
The aim, says Roberts, "is to improve the testing process, lowering the costs. And this is fun because we're moving into the atomic age."
Roberts' work in chip testing has support from industrial partners, as well as government-funded organizations like the Micronet Network of Centres of Excellence. However, he recognizes that changes in mixed signal chip testing will take place slowly. "We are one step ahead of things, and there is a lot invested in the current process." Roberts is referring both to the capital investment - current testing equipment costs between $5 and $20 million - and to the risk involved with any major production changes. He says that the mixed signal chips industry is now beginning to accept the need for changes to testing.
Roberts doesn't discount the possibility of creating a spin-off company to commercialize the work he is doing at McGill. However, he has no plans to join his graduate students who have travelled the gold-paved road out of academia. He intends to stay in university.
"I love teaching - it's what makes me tick. Teaching helps you see issues clearly." He is obviously able to make his students see clearly, too. Recently honoured with a Principal's Prize for Excellence in Teaching at McGill, Roberts was praised by former students for making sense of theory and sparking enthusiasm for what might otherwise be dry material.
Roberts could be said to have "written the book" on testing of microelectronics circuits, with textbooks and other publications and a unique course design to his credit.
Funding: Gordon Roberts' research activities receive support from a number of sources, including Texas Instruments, Teradyne, IBM Canada and Wavecrest. These companies have provided several pieces of equipment, worth between $200,000 and $1 million each. Roberts is a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council grantholder and has also received regular support from the Canadian Microelectronics Corporation. He belongs to the Micronet Network of Centres of Excellence and is a member of a team that has received funding of over $20 million from the Canadian Foundation for Innovation. The mixed-signal test lab which houses Roberts' research equipment will receive between $2-3 million from the CFI grant.
