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Yield Dynamics Awarded Patent for its Yield Mine®
Semiconductor Data Mining Technology

Santa Clara, CA, January 28, 2003 – Yield Dynamics, Inc. announced today that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has awarded the company patent number 6,470,229, entitled "Semiconductor Yield Management System and Method" for the ground-breaking semiconductor data mining methodologies embodied in its Yield Mine software.

The system, under development since 1997, and fully integrated with Yield Dynamics' Genesis yield management framework, is the first and only comprehensive software designed for automatically detecting root causes of semiconductor yield problems through advanced statistical algorithms and data mining technologies.

In order to increase yields in their leading edge products and technologies, many of the world's foremost chip companies, including the world's leading merchant foundry, the largest microprocessor manufacturers, the DRAM market share leader, the two largest consumer electronics companies, and the largest fabless company, have already adopted Yield Dynamics' advanced Yield Mine technology as an integral part of their operations, including varied applications within LCD and semiconductor manufacturing as well as final test.

In developing Yield Mine, Yield Dynamics' team of Ph.D. level scientists worked in close cooperation with leading universities and foremost semiconductor manufacturing companies around the world, to create advanced data mining technologies proven capable of achieving highly reliable and compelling results when facing the unique challenges posed by filtering high volumes of complex semiconductor production data. Dr. Weidong Wang, Yield Dynamics' Manager of Advanced Technologies and Yield Mine co-inventor, explained, "Traditional data mining techniques rely on huge amounts of data to deliver meaningful results, but in advanced chip production facilities, rapid decisions must be made based on as few data points as possible once a problem emerges. To cope with this important requirement, we had to fundamentally reinvent conventional statistical techniques."

The results in customer deployments have been dramatic. According to the world's foremost semiconductor foundry in Taiwan, Yield Mine has resulted in reducing the analysis time to find root causes of yield excursions in their leading edge production line by a factor of five.

"The broad range of claims granted by the U.S. patent office with the issuance of the Yield Mine patent validates the pioneering market leading position we have established with this technology," stated Dr. Jonathan Buckheit, CEO of Yield Dynamics. "With this new patent, and other patents that are pending, we will be able to protect both our proprietary position as well as the substantial investment our customers have made in Yield Mine to ensure their manufacturing operations are maintained at the highest levels of quality, reliability, and efficiency."

Trademarks

Yield Dynamics, Genesis and Yield Mine are trademarks or registered trademarks of Yield Dynamics, Inc.

About Yield Dynamics

Headquartered in Santa Clara, Calif., Yield Dynamics, Inc. ("YDI") is the technology leader in yield management and advanced process control for the semiconductor industry. YDI provides the most comprehensive set of software tools available, enabling users to convert large amounts of data into useful information that allows them to ramp products rapidly and achieve higher yields. Additional information about Yield Dynamics can be found at http://www.ydyn.com or by calling (408) 330-9320.

Yield Dynamics Awarded Patent for its Yield Mine® Semiconductor Data Mining Technology

Yield Dynamics Awarded Patent for its Yield Mine®
Semiconductor Data Mining Technology