How Can Our 4-Site Round-Robin Gang Programmer
Beat an 8-Site Conventional Gang Programmer ?
Let us take a look at a simple example (Example A):
In this example, we assume it takes you 5 seconds to unload a
certain programmed chip and also reload a new one into the same socket adapter.
Assume that the programmer takes 15 seconds to program this type of chip.
As soon as the chip is loaded into Socket #1, it will start being
programmed, as shown in green below. By the time you finish loading
Socket #4, chip #1 will be done and you can unload it and put in a new
one at Socket #1.
Ignoring the minor boundary conditions (starting of the batch of chips
and ending the batch), it takes 5 seconds plus 15 seconds=20 seconds
to get 4 chips programmed, as shown in the red box. That means a
throughput of (5+15)/4=5 seconds per chip.
If you are using a conventional 8-site gang programmer, you will
spend 5 sec x 8=40 seconds
to load the 8 chips, plus 15 seconds (could be more because the
single controller needs to attend all 8 sockets)
to wait for them to be programmed.
The throughput in this case would be (40+15)/8=6.9 seconds per
chip - 37% slower than our 4-site round-robin programmer.
Example A:
Summarized in table form:
(Time is in seconds)
Round-Robin
4-site Programmer
Conventional
8-site Programmer
Loading and unloading time per chip (L1)
5
5
Number of programming sites (n)
4
8
Total loading and unloading time for all sites (LA)
20
40
Time needed to program each chip (p)
15
15
Total time taken for n chips to be programmed (T)
5+15=20 (L1+p)
40+15=55 (LA+p)
Effective time taken to produce one chip (T/n)
5
6.9
Winner
Round-Robin
4-site Programmer
Example B:
Assume now the chips take 30 seconds to program:
Round-Robin
4-site Programmer
Conventional
8-site Programmer
Loading and unloading time per chip (L1)
5
5
Number of programming sites (n)
4
8
Total loading and unloading time for all sites (LA)
20
40
Time needed to program each chip (p)
30
30
Total time taken for n chips to be programmed (T)
5+30=35 (L1+p)
40+30=70 (LA+p)
Effective time taken to produce one chip (T/n)
8.8
8.8
Winner
It is a tie
It is a tie
Example C:
Assume now the chips take a longer time to programm:
i.e. 60 seconds
Round-Robin
4-site Programmer
Conventional
8-site Programmer
Loading and unloading time per chip (L1)
5
5
Number of programming sites (n)
4
8
Total loading and unloading time for all sites (LA)
20
40
Time needed to program each chip (p)
60
60
Total time taken for n chips to be programmed (T)
5+60=65 (L1+p)
40+60=100 (LA+p)
Effective time taken to produce one chip (T/n)
16.3
12.5
Winner
Conventional
8-site Programmer
Conclusion 1:
IF it takes you 5 seconds to unload and load a device:
THEN our 4-site round-robin gang programmer beats an 8-site conventional
gang programmer when the device takes less than 30 seconds to
program (or erase, program and verify, whatever you need
to do with the programmer in the "auto" sequence).
If it takes you 10 seconds to unload and load a device, then
the break-even point would be changed from 30 seconds to 60 seconds.
Example D:
Following assumes 10 seconds to unload and reload:
Round-Robin
4-site Programmer
Conventional
8-site Programmer
Loading and unloading time per chip (L1)
10
10
Number of programming sites (n)
4
8
Total loading and unloading time for all sites (LA)
40
80
Time needed to program each chip (p)
60
60
Total time taken for n chips to be programmed (T)
10+60=70 (L1+p)
80+60=140 (LA+p)
Effective time taken to produce one chip (T/n)
17.5
17.5
Winner
It is a tie
It is a tie
Conclusion 2:
IF it takes you 10 seconds to unload and load a device:
THEN our 4-site round-robin gang programmer beats an 8-site conventional
gang programmer when the device takes less than 60 seconds to
program (or whatever you need the programmer to do for you
in the "auto" sequence).
Conclusion in General:
Our 4-site round-robin gang programmer is more favored when:
A. The operator takes more time to unload and reload a device.
OR:
B. The devices takes less time by the programmer to get programmed.
Since our 4-site round-robin gang programmers are very fast and
take much less than 60 seconds to erase, program and verify most devices,
they pay for themselves faster than conventional gang programmers.
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