Tekmos' Blog

Tekmos offers test and characterization services. As a fabless semiconductor company, Tekmos has an internal test facility, with testers ranging up to 320 pins in size. We offer access to these facilities and the engineers that run them.

Verification and Debug of ASICs 

Some customers have developed an ASIC, but lack the facilities to completely test it, or to debug it if there is a problem.  Our testers provide the means to verify the ASIC, and to debug it.  Also, our testers can be remotely accessed, allowing the customer engineer to exercise their part from the comfort of their own office. 

Verification of Brokered Parts 

Brokers have become very efficient in obtaining mature parts.  But there is always the question of if the parts are correctly marked,  and will they perform to specification.  Re-testing the parts is the best way to resolve those questions.

Test Program Creation 

Customers do not always have a test program for their parts.  In those cases, we can create one from scratch.  Starting from either design files or a data sheet, our engineers can write patterns that functionally exercise the parts.   

Product Characterization 

The question for all new parts is does the part meet all specifications over the temperature and voltage limits?  And the only way to find out is to measure it.  Tekmos can take your part, and measure the functionality, DC specifications, and AC specifications over the desired temperature range.  Then we consolidate the data into a report, that shows how well the new part works as compared to the specifications.  This service is useful for both new designs and to evaluate existing designs. 

Sometimes, a project needs additional engineering resources.  When that happens, Tekmos design engineers are available to help.

Digital ASIC Design

Working from your specifications, Tekmos can create digital designs and layouts in your preferred process technology.  We can also assist with IP selection and interfacing.

Mixed Signal ASIC Design

Not all designs are digital.  Tekmos can design the analog portions, and provide the design in either schematic form or a GDS layout in the process technology of your choice.

FPGA Design

Our designs are not just for ASICs.  We can also develop FPGA based designs, in any of the FPGA families.  Internally, it is our standard practice to implement our processors in an FPGA before we commit to silicon.  This has given us a great deal of experience in working within the FPGA environment.

IP Design 

Sometimes a design needs an IP block.  These are usually a specific peripheral to a processor, or a communications interface.  IP locks serve as an efficient way of partitioning a design so that multiple designers can work on the same project.  Many IP blocks can be purchased, while others need to be designed to meet a customer's specific requirements.  

Tekmos offers customers the ability to have their ASIC or customer specific designs created and manufactured in the United States. This is typically important for companies that require ITAR compliance in their market.

The ability to design a unique customer specific part can provide competitive advantages and exceptional protection of confidential intellectual property.

Tekmos performs all design work in our Austin, Texas technology lab.

We can then have masks created, wafers fabricated and assembled with our partners in their US facilities. Tekmos then tests every part in our Austin test facility before shipment to customers. A customer specific design is essential when the application requires functions that are not readily available from standard products or when IP must be protected under the ITAR compliance rules.

Tekmos can build a wide range of devices including microprocessors, digital, analog, extended voltage ranges and supports extended temperature from -55ºC to as high as 250ºC. Our engineers are very skilled at including existing IP already developed to provide a very fast lead-time for prototypes and production units.

In life, there is constant, ongoing challenge. These challenges can take many forms. We see examples of this in nature, with the frenetic competitive energy of an ecosystem, bubbling with all forms of life in constant struggle. Or we can find examples in the daily lives of ordinary people, tasking themselves with reasons to strive. For some, these tasks may be to simply work to provide for basic needs. For others, they may find the challenges of life filled with personal objectives, such as improving oneself with knowledge, or pushing themselves to improve a specific physical ability. Whatever the challenge or goal is, there seems to be one constant to make that goal a reality. That is the drive and determination to stay on a task, to see the objective before you, and to move toward that objective with fierce determination. However lowly or lofty the goal, and whether rushing forward or stumbling and plodding, the march must not stop. It is the persistence itself which often wins the day. And as Jim Rohn points out so simply, discipline is the glue that pulls the goal together with the achievement.

A business is no different, or any system within that business. To set the goal, then to make the goal real can only be done with the discipline of effort. When a process is evaluated, what is truly being observed, what is truly being measured, is the simple day to day discipline needed to reach the goal of that process. At Tekmos, we recently went through our BSI Quality surveillance assessment, to verify that our Quality Management System was functioning as represented. We found that indeed, our processes and procedures were functioning as they should. But the real achievement was the opportunity to see that the discipline, the bridge if you will, was in place and moving toward our goals. Our goals are customer driven. And it is good to see that at Tekmos, we have a sturdy, though well-traveled bridge, to bring our customers goals to full achievement.

As children, many people seem to have trouble eating their vegetables. I can still remember my own grandmother's disapproving look, as basically everything but the vegetables disappeared from my plate. Of course I would then make a valiant attempt at dessert, as my grandmother's cobbler, pie or chocolate anything was truly the stuff of legend. But she would have none of it. It was back to the vegetables for me, with dramatic slow, choking swallows, while simulating my best near death experience. In time, to her credit, creativity came to play a role. It was probably the peas, floating in gravy, nestled seductively in a puddle on top of my mash potatoes that started the change. "Ducks in a pond", she called it. Ok, so they weren't ducks, and it was not a pond. But the peas went down quickly, and the whole thing tasted pretty darn good. In time the green beans, carrots and honestly just about anything became fair game. I guess I can blame my grandmother, as today there doesn't seem to be anything that could possibly land on my plate that will not be eaten with great enjoyment. Maybe too much so, if the truth was told.

Doing something that may seem to be a problem, to have an eventual better overall outcome, is not just a technique for grandmothers. The rules of an organization, or laws of a land can also be viewed through such a lens. In Europe, for example, the large number of chemical substances being manufactured, and the unknown effect on human health and the environment became a concern. Regulations were created, such a Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals  (REACH), to register, evaluate, authorize and possibly restrict certain harmful chemical substances. Or the Restriction of Hazardous Waste in Electrical & Electronic Equipment (RoHS) directive, where components are tested for specific substances, such as Lead (Pb), Cadmium (Dc), Mercury (Hg) as well as a list of other materials to verify there is less than 0.01% of that substance by weight. While these regulations do require more work and verification, they also truly do help protect the environment and human health.

At Tekmos, we take these directives seriously. We take the extra effort needed to help ensure that potentially harmful substances are controlled throughout our industry and in our business practices. Tekmos REACH and RoHS Compliance Statements have been created, and are easy to view and download from our website. We view compliance with these directives as our responsibility and obligation, to our business partners, our employees, and all others who use and depend on the products we make. At Tekmos we take the effort to make our world a little safer. Oh, and we also don't mind eating our vegetables when the time comes either.