Conformity test software for IONFI 4.0 standard
Adoption of an effective probe using a Nexus interposer

Tektronix recently announced the industry's first test solution for the ONFI (Open NAND Flash Interface) standard.

The ONFI 4.0 test solution available on Tektronix high-performance oscilloscopes includes software for analyzing DDR2/3 modes on the ONFI bus and is combined with an effective interposer-based probe solution.

The ONFI standard is a standard announced by the ONFI Working Group to simplify the process of integrating NAND flash memory into consumer electronics and computing platforms. The ONFI 4.0 specification introduced the latest NV-DDR3 interface operating at VccQ=1.2V to increase performance and improve power efficiency, extended NV-DDR2 and NV-DDR3 I/O speeds to 667 MT/s and 800 MT/s, respectively, and added ZQ calibration capabilities.

As speeds increased and voltage levels decreased, designers handling ONFI buses faced the challenge of resolving conformity testing and timing issues, as well as ensuring access to signals.

Using TEK-PGY-ONFI software, design and test engineers can test the conformity of ONFI bus timing parameters of the ONFI interface and provide automatic measurement functions for command, address, data input, and data output transactions. The detailed view function of the TEK-PGY-ONFI software helps solve timing problems by correlating analog waveforms with each electrical measurement of the ONFI waveform through annotation.

High-density packaging and high data rates are factors that make it difficult to ensure the stability of signal transmission characteristics for NAND flash devices. Tektronix supports various mechanical specifications, including socketed, direct-connected, and edge probe designs—a patented technology that meets high mechanical stability requirements. The S-parameter models of the interposer and probe allow for the self-generation and direct modeling of de-embedding filters to be applied to oscilloscopes.

The TEK-PGY-ONFI software runs on Tektronix MSO/DPO70000 series oscilloscopes with a bandwidth of 4 GHz to 33 GHz, and P7500 or P7300 series probes are recommended for testing. For some customers testing ONFI, signal access may be difficult or impossible, so Tektronix recommends Nexus’s ONFI 152 Ball NAND Flash Edge High-Fidelity Interposer to ensure signal access while maintaining signal integrity.

Brian Reich, General Manager of High Performance Oscilloscopes at Tektronix, said, “This ONFI test solution provides the capabilities necessary for customers to launch memory-based products more quickly and with confidence. Compared to manual testing, this solution significantly reduces compliance test time, simplifies debugging, and ultimately increases productivity.”

The new TEK-PGY-ONFI software is added to Tektronix's memory measurement solution portfolio, providing optimized features for memory engineers alongside existing eMMC, UFS, and DDRA.