computer science

Teradyne

Teradyne is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Teradyne rather than just read about it. In short: Teradyne, Inc. is an American automatic test equipment (ATE) designer and manufacturer based in North Reading, Massachusetts. Its high-profile customers include Samsung, Qualcomm, Intel, Analog Devices, Texas Instruments and IBM.

Key takeaways

Teradyne belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Teradyne to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Teradyne from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Teradyne, Inc. is an American automatic test equipment (ATE) designer and manufacturer based in North Reading, Massachusetts. Its high-profile customers include Samsung, Qualcomm, Intel, Analog Devices, Texas Instruments and IBM.

History

Teradyne was founded by Alex d'Arbeloff and Nick DeWolf, who were classmates at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the late 1940s. The men founded Teradyne in 1960, and set up shop in rented space above Joe and Nemo's hotdog stand in downtown Boston. In 1961, d'Arbeloff and DeWolf sold their first product, a logic-controlled go/no-go diode tester, to Raytheon. In the 1980s, Teradyne expanded its sub-assembly test business by acquiring Zehntel, a leading manufacturer of in-circuit board test systems. In 1987, the company introduced the first analog VLSI test system, the A500, which led the market in testing integrated devices that provided the interface between analog and digital data. The 1990s brought more diversification. The company acquired Megatest Corporation, which expanded its Semiconductor Test group to include smaller and less expensive testers than had been currently available. Teradyne also became a market leader in high-end System-on-a-Chip (SoC) test with its Catalyst and Tiger test systems. In 2000, Teradyne Connection Systems acquired Herco Technologies and Synthane-Taylor, and a year later they acquired circuit-board test and inspection leader, GenRad, and merged it into the Assembly Test Division. GenRad's Diagnostic Solutions, which made test equipment for the automotive manufacturing and service industries, became a separate product group for Teradyne. In 2006, Teradyne sold its two Boston buildings and consolidated all of its Boston-area staff to its current site in North Reading, Massachusetts. Teradyne grew its semiconductor test business with the addition of Nextest and Eagle Test Systems in 2008, serving the flash memory test market and high-volume analog test market, respectively. That same year, Teradyne entered the disk-drive test market with the internally developed Neptune product, which serves the data-intensive internet and computing storage markets. In 2011, it acquired LitePoint Corporation, a provider of test instruments for use with wireless products, such as laptops PCs, tablets, home networking and cell phones. With the addition of LitePoint, Teradyne's product portfolio stretched from wafer test of semiconductor chips to system-level circuit boards to products ready for store shelves. Upon d'Arbeloff's retirement, George Chamillard assumed the post of President and CEO. He was replaced at his retirement by former CFO Mike Bradley. Bradley retired in January 2014, and was in turn replaced by Semiconductor Test Division president Mark Jagiela. Teradyne acquired Danish company Universal Robots in 2015.

References

External links Official website Business data for Teradyne, Inc.:

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Teradyne

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Teradyne claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Teradyne before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Teradyne ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Teradyne

In research: Teradyne appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Teradyne in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Teradyne is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1960 establishments in Massachusetts, 1970s initial public offerings, Companies based in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Teradyne outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Teradyne in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Teradyne means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Teradyne out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Teradyne in simple terms?

Why does Teradyne matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Teradyne?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Teradyne.