August 31, 1998, Montreal, Canada - Matrox Imaging today announced that Semiconductor Technologies and Instruments Inc. (STI) has chosen Matrox as a vision component supplier for its complete product line of wafer inspection systems, semiconductor lead and package inspection machines as well as OEM engines for integrated laser marking modules.

As part of an effort to reduce costs while exploiting the availability of high-performance, off-the-shelf PC technology, STI began a careful screening process to choose a vision component supplier for its systems. "After submitting project requirements to numerous vision component suppliers and evaluating products, we came to the conclusion that going with Matrox was the right decision," said Rajiv Roy, Business Director at STI. "They offer frame grabbers with or without on-board display, a scalable vision processor, as well as a common API across their complete hardware line with the Matrox Imaging Library (MIL). This high-level 'C' library allowed us to develop the vision part of our application software quickly while maintaining the portability to use the modules we created, in different inspection machines."

STI is better known as a former business unit of Texas Instruments' Process Automation Center (PAC). An industry pioneer in lead and package inspection machines, STI has been breaking speed barriers with innovative solutions - fastest post-probe wafer inspection, fastest laser marker, and fastest tape and reel systems. STI pioneered the combining of process steps to reduce cycle time - integrating inspection and conditioning, as well as integrating true coplanarity inspection with tape and reel.

At SEMICON West '98, STI announced the following inspection products based on Matrox boards and software. By using the Matrox Imaging Library, application code was developed once and reused for all three systems.

WAV-1000 - the fastest high speed wafer inspection system for post-probe inspection uses the Matrox Genesis vision processor. The power of the TI 'C80 DSP found on this board is used to process large quantities of data for microscopic defects in a couple of minutes compared to 60-90 minutes for an operator.

AT8500 - a combination camera and laser-based integrated coplanarity inspection with tape and reel that inspects on the fly - CSPs, BGAs, QFPs and TSOPs. This ensures that the throughput of the tape and reel is not compromised. The system uses three Matrox Pulsar frame grabber boards, two of which are in a single PC digitizing images from two cameras operating at 500 frames per second.

AT8005 - a high speed integrated inspection, conditioning and tape and reel System that can handle devices ranging from 84pin PLCCs to 150 mil SOIC at 5000 units per hour. The system is based on two Matrox Pulsar frame grabber boards.

For more information, contact our Media Relations Team.