Test configuration and data management system and associated method for enterprise test operations

Abstract

Enterprise test configuration and data management systems and associated methods are disclosed for test, measurement and automation environments that allow management, configuration and analysis of test systems and associated data across enterprise-wide test operations. These systems and methods are directed to the production process from the test and test station point of view and provides a variety of mechanisms for test configuration and data management for test stations (or automated test equipment (ATEs)) including the capability of managing data about each test station, hardware resources, software resources, test configuration, test steps, acquired measurements, test execution, and / or other information related to the tests, the test stations or the units-under-test (UUT). Standardized interfaces are also contemplated for the test station (or ATE) software to communicate with server systems and other ATEs if needed, thereby greatly simplifying the coding required for these systems and allowing each test station (or ATE) to talk through the same standardized interface.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application claims priority to the following co-pending provisional application: Provisional Application Ser. No. 60 / 314,922 entitled “TEST CONFIGURATION AND DATA MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND ASSOCIATED METHOD FOR ENTERPRISE TEST OPERATIONS,” which was filed on Aug. 24, 2001.TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] This invention relates to configuration and management techniques for device and product test operations in test, measurement and automation environments. BACKGROUND [0003] Many companies, and specifically electronic and semiconductor device companies, produce products that must be tested to meet various specifications before the products can be shipped to customers. These test operations often include a variety of different test activities in a variety of different environments. Existing systems do not currently provide for efficient test configuration and data management among these disparate test operations, particularly on an enterprise-wide s...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0008] The present invention provides an enterprise test configuration and data management system and associated method for test, measurement and automation environments that allow management, configuration and analysis of test systems and associated data across enterprise-wide test operations. The present invention is directed to the production process from the test and test station point of view and provides a variety of mechanisms for test configuration and data management for test stations including the capability of managing data about each test station, hardware resources, software resources, test configuration, test steps, acquired measurements, test execution, and / or other information related to the tests, the test stations or the units-under-test (UUT). The present invention also provides standardized interfaces for the test station (or ATE) software to communicate with server systems and other ATEs if needed, thereby greatly simplify the coding required for these systems and allowing each test station (or ATE) to talk through the same standardized interface.

Problems solved by technology

Existing systems do not currently provide for efficient test configuration and data management among these disparate test operations, particularly on an enterprise-wide scale.

With respect to connectivity, test stations or automated test equipment devices (ATEs) are often located on test floors that do not have network connections or that are configured in such a way as to make network connections to the ATEs rather difficult or impossible.

Thus, test monitoring has previously focused on the individual test systems and has not adequately addressed enterprise level test monitoring and management.

In addition, disparate tests and test stations typically do not have common data formats, but instead are often custom designed software packages that are interested in nothing but the operations of the particular test being run.

Although such raw test data has been stored centrally so that it can be retrieved at a later time for historical analysis, this raw test data is typically not formatted in any standard manner or managed such that it can be used as testing is in progress.

As such, these tools do not provide an efficient and easily managed solution for configuring and managing enterprise test operations.

However, these MES systems are not directed to test operations.

Thus, such systems fall short on managing the test data and test results thereby making difficult the task of finding specific data about a test, and do not provide mechanisms to maintain configuration information about each test station or any tests run on each test station.

In addition, such existing systems do not provide capabilities to monitor the test stations (or ATEs) and the data related to the ATEs.

Without a direct connection between the ATEs and a server system, it is extremely difficult and complex to attempt to create software code that allows such capabilities.

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