June 9, 2021 — ICsense, a TDK Group Company and independent subsidiary that focuses on ASIC supply and custom IC design services, is scaling up its bench test facilities by 40% and installing in-house ATE (Automated Test Equipment) facilities to uniquely offer its customers in the automotive, medical, industrial and consumer sectors a true one-stop-shop for custom, mass production-ready ASICs. The investment in the newly installed Advantest V93000 Smart Scale platform enables ICsense engineers to perform advanced analog, mixed-signal and high voltage testing, bringing their design and test programming process entirely in-house.
“There are only a few IC design houses in the world and, typically, these companies design custom chips internally but do not necessarily have the in-house resources to execute on the steps that follow,” explains Bram De Muer, Co-Founder and CEO, ICsense. “It takes several years to develop a custom IC. The team that develops the chip knows it inside out, making it vitally important that the test development team is also in-house to bring the product to mass production successfully.”
The close interaction with the IC design team assures that the Design for Test (DfT) and the development of the production test are better aligned. ICsense’s highly systematic and efficient workflow ensures high product quality and significantly minimizes the risk of defects in mass production later on for the customer.
As the most prominent ASIC design house in Europe, ICsense employs more than 90 in-house design engineers at its headquarters in Leuven, Belgium. “Unlike aggregation partners that just bring together different companies to do the work without creating additional value, ICsense has all the required profiles in house. Only with the right mix of talented analog and digital design teams, test development team, quality engineers, functional safety experts, ESD/EMC specialists, and product engineers can a company successfully design products for mass production,” adds De Muer. “We believe that this is a unique service offering to the industry, enabling us to support our customers from design concept through to mass production.”
About ICsense
ICsense, an independent subsidiary of the TDK Group, is Europe’s premier IC design company. ICsense’s core business is ASIC development and supply and custom IC design services. ICsense has the largest fab-independent European design group with world-class expertise in analog, digital, mixed-signal and high-voltage IC design. The company develops and supplies customer exclusive ASIC solutions for the automotive, medical, industrial and consumer market compliant with ISO9001, ISO13485, IEC61508-ISO26262. www.ICsense.com/ATE/
About TDK Corporation
TDK Corporation is a world leader in electronic solutions for the smart society based in Tokyo, Japan. Built on a foundation of material sciences mastery, TDK welcomes societal transformation by resolutely remaining at the forefront of technological evolution and deliberately “Attracting Tomorrow.” It was established in 1935 to commercialize ferrite, a key material in electronic and magnetic products. TDK’s comprehensive, innovation-driven portfolio features passive components such as ceramic, aluminum electrolytic and film capacitors, as well as magnetics, high-frequency, and piezo and protection devices. The product spectrum also includes sensors and sensor systems such as temperature and pressure, magnetic, and MEMS sensors. In addition, TDK provides power supplies and energy devices, magnetic heads and more. These products are marketed under the product brands TDK, EPCOS, InvenSense, Micronas, Tronics and TDK-Lambda. TDK focuses on demanding markets in automotive, industrial and consumer electronics, and information and communication technology. The company has a network of design and manufacturing locations and sales offices in Asia, Europe, and in North and South America. In fiscal 2021, TDK posted total sales of USD 13.3 billion and employed about 129,000 people worldwide.
