LTX-Credence Corporation has announced NighthawkCT, a new low cost benchmark for connectivity device testing. The first product under the Nighthawk brand represents a major shift in testing strategy for these types of devices and significantly improves on every aspect of RF connectivity test. NighthawkCT is result of LTX-Credence's RF and DSP industry leading expertise. The product will be released to manufacturing in the first calendar quarter of 2013.

Earlier, the only option for semiconductor companies designing connectivity devices to reduce test costs was to implement massive multi-site solutions on large, expensive RF testers. These solutions lead to higher capital cost, lower capital utilization and longer time to market.

Each NighthawkCT instrument is capable of full quad-site parallel test and up to two NighthawkCT instruments can be configured in a test system allowing for full functional testing of up to eight devices simultaneously.

David Tacelli, President and Chief Executive Officer at LTX-Credence, said, "In our view NighthawkCT represents revolutionary technology. This new product, two years in the making, represents innovation at the highest level by leveraging 30 years of experience developing RF test solutions. Our beta customers are extremely impressed with the performance, speed, size and reliability of the product. We anticipate NighthawkCT will be a significant advantage for the Company when competing for business in the connectivity space."

NighthawkCT can provide the following benefits to its customers:

• Lower cost of test by over 50 percent compared to traditional competitive solutions
• Widest IF bandwidth in the industry, allowing for fast and accurate testing of all existing standards and the newly emerging 802.11ac devices
• Powerful embedded DSP processing to enhance dynamic range and produce the fastest throughput
• An ultra-compact RF system (the size of a laptop), which can easily upgrade any Diamond Series or X-Series tester in the field in typically 30 minutes
• Lowest annual operating cost due to a calibration strategy which eliminates costly hardware and improves test cell operational efficiency

Recently, LTX-Credence announced that it has shipped the 750th Diamond Series test system. The system was shipped to Sigurd Microelectronics as part of a multiple Diamondx system order to support capacity expansion for their customers.

Since its introduction in 2008, the Diamond Series has been adopted by a large number of customers as a strategic test platform for testing microcontrollers, power management ICs, and a wide range of consumer and mobility devices. The newest product in the Diamond Series, the Diamondx, was added earlier this year.

The Diamondx expands the capability of the Diamond Series by incorporating a completely new, highly efficient multi-site architecture along with a multi-functional SerDes test option, and RF and analog test technology originally developed for the X-Series. These capabilities broaden the range of end applications that can be tested on the Diamondx while still offering customers the lowest cost of test based on capital cost, throughput and operating costs. Focused primarily on the digital application specific standard product (ASSP) market segment, the Diamondx has experienced a fast adoption rate as customers have quickly recognized the value in its innovative technology.

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