Debugging tool for radio frequency testing machine

Abstract

The utility model provides a debugging tool for a radio frequency testing machine, and the debugging tool comprises a second TTL communication interface which enables the debugging tool to be in communication connection with a first TTL communication interface of the testing machine; the test starting channel is connected with the second TTL communication interface and is used for transmitting a test starting signal; and the test ending channel is connected with the second TTL communication interface and is used for receiving the classification signal or the test ending signal. According to the utility model, a sorting machine or a probe station entity can be replaced to communicate with a test machine, and occupation of sorting machine or probe station resources in the development and debugging process can be greatly reduced.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The utility model relates to radio frequency test technical field especially relates to a kind of debugging tool for radio frequency test machine. BACKGROUND

[0002] With the continuous development of semiconductor technology, semiconductor chip testing as important process step in semiconductor device research and production, also receives the extensive attention of industry. Traditional manual testing is inefficient, prone to error, and difficult to meet the needs of large-scale production and complex testing tasks. To realize the automatic testing of semiconductor chips, the close cooperation of test machine and handler / probe station is required. However, the communication methods between test machine and handler, probe station and other equipment are various, but the overall trend is higher data transmission speed, result mutual recognition, automatic identification, etc.

[0003] In reality, the same chip production enterprise may purchase test machines, handlers and probe stations from different manufacturers, and the communication interfaces used by each manufacturer are not the same, which leads to the need for customizing communication interfaces according to customer handler / probe station equipment during the development and production of semiconductor automatic test equipment, and the need for joint debugging with handler / probe station of different manufacturers. The verification and calibration method of physical machine interconnection requires actual operation of two test machines and handlers, which requires a lot of manpower and resources, and is not conducive to pre-shipment inspection of test machines and handlers or interconnection status inspection of test machines and handlers.

[0004] In addition, when users use test machines and handlers from different suppliers to work together, it is difficult to determine whether the communication failure is caused by the test machine or the handler, and since they come from different manufacturers, communication and cooperation between the two manufacturers are required, which greatly increases the user's communication cost and time cost, and also greatly affects production efficiency.

[0005] The information disclosed in this BACKGROUND section is only intended to enhance the understanding of the general background of the present application, and should not be considered as recognition or suggestion that this information forms the prior art known to those skilled in the art. SUMMARY

[0006] To solve the problems existing in the prior art, the utility model provides a kind of debugging tool for radio frequency test machine.

[0007] The technical scheme of the utility model provides a kind of debugging tool for radio frequency test machine, debugging tool includes: second TTL communication interface, second TTL communication interface makes debugging tool can be communicated with the first TTL communication interface of test machine and is connected;Test start path, test start path is connected with second TTL communication interface, for transmitting test start signal;Test end path, test end path is connected with second TTL communication interface, for receiving classification signal or test end signal.

[0008] Optionally, the test start path includes: a switch; a power supply device. When the switch is off, the power supply device is connected to the test station of the test machine and provides a high-level signal to the test station through the second TTL communication interface and the first TTL communication interface. When the switch is on, the power supply device is grounded, so that the test start path provides a low-level signal to the test station through the second TTL communication interface and the first TTL communication interface. The low-level signal serves as the test start signal.

[0009] Optionally, the debugging tool includes four test start paths.

[0010] Optionally, the four test start paths share the same power supply device.

[0011] Optionally, the test termination path includes a voltage comparator with multiple comparison channels. Each comparison channel includes two input terminals and one output terminal. One of the two input terminals is used to input a reference voltage, and the other is connected to the test station to receive a classification signal or a test termination signal returned by the test station. The output terminal of the comparison channel includes an LED module. The output terminal is normally off. When the comparison channel receives a classification signal or a test termination signal, the output terminal is turned on, causing the LED module to flash.

[0012] Optionally, the voltage comparator includes four comparison channels.

[0013] Optionally, the test termination path includes nine voltage comparators.

[0014] Optionally, the second TTL communication interface includes various different types of TTL communication interfaces.

[0015] Optionally, the debugging tool debugs four test sites on the test machine each time.

[0016] Additional aspects and advantages of this invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

[0017] The beneficial effects of this utility model are: This utility model can replace the physical sorting machine or probe station for communication with the testing machine, which can greatly reduce the occupation of sorting machine or probe station resources during the development and debugging process. Attached Figure Description

[0018] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in this utility model or the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are some embodiments of this utility model. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained from these drawings without creative effort.

[0019] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of a communication module disclosed in this embodiment;

[0020] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of a debugging tool provided in this embodiment;

[0021] Figure 3 This embodiment provides a Test Start (SOT) circuit diagram;

[0022] Figure 4 This embodiment provides a circuit diagram of an End-of-Test (EOT) path.

[0023] Figure 5 The flowchart of the debugging software provided in this embodiment. Detailed Implementation

[0024] The advantages of this utility model are further illustrated below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments.

[0025] Exemplary embodiments will now be described in detail, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. When the following description relates to the drawings, unless otherwise indicated, the same numbers in different drawings denote the same or similar elements. The embodiments described in the following exemplary embodiments do not represent all embodiments consistent with this disclosure.

[0026] The terminology used in this disclosure is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure. The singular forms “a,” “the,” and “the” as used herein are also intended to include the plural forms unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It should also be understood that the term “and / or” as used herein refers to and includes any and all possible combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

[0027] It should be understood that although the terms first, second, third, etc., may be used in this disclosure to describe various information, such information should not be limited to these terms. These terms are used only to distinguish information of the same type from one another. For example, without departing from the scope of this disclosure, first information may also be referred to as second information, and similarly, second information may also be referred to as first information. Depending on the context, the word "if" as used herein may be interpreted as "when," "when," or "in response to determination."

[0028] In the description of this utility model, it should be understood that the terms "longitudinal", "lateral", "up", "down", "front", "back", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", etc., indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings. They are only for the convenience of describing this utility model and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, they should not be construed as limitations on this utility model.

[0029] In the description of this utility model, unless otherwise specified and limited, it should be noted that the terms "installation", "connection" and "linking" should be interpreted broadly. For example, they can refer to mechanical or electrical connections, or internal connections between two components. They can be direct connections or indirect connections through an intermediate medium. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meaning of the above terms according to the specific circumstances.

[0030] In the following description, the use of suffixes such as "module," "part," or "unit" to denote elements is solely for the purpose of illustrating this invention and has no specific meaning in itself. Therefore, "module" and "part" can be used interchangeably.

[0031] This utility model proposes a communication module debugging and testing tool that can simulate the communication modes of various types of sorting machines and perform joint debugging with the communication module of the testing machine, thus solving the problems of long debugging time and high cost of communication between the testing machine and the sorting machine.

[0032] It should be noted that in the field of radio frequency testing, the test start signal described in this utility model is the SOT (Start of Test) signal, the test end signal is the EOT (End of Test) signal, the classification signal is the BIN signal, and the test site is the test site, or simply site.

[0033] The present invention provides a debugging tool for an RF tester, comprising: a second TTL (Transistor-Transistor Logic) communication interface, which enables the debugging tool to communicate with the first TTL communication interface of the tester; a test start path, which is connected to the second TTL communication interface and is used to transmit a test start signal; and a test end path, which is connected to the second TTL communication interface and is used to receive a classification signal or a test end signal.

[0034] Optionally, the test start path includes: a switch; a power supply device. When the switch is off, the power supply device is connected to the test station of the test machine and provides a high-level signal to the test station through the second TTL communication interface and the first TTL communication interface. When the switch is on, the power supply device is grounded, so that the test start path provides a low-level signal to the test station through the second TTL communication interface and the first TTL communication interface. The low-level signal serves as the test start signal.

[0035] Optionally, the debugging tool includes four test start paths.

[0036] Optionally, the four test start paths share the same power supply device.

[0037] Optionally, the test termination path includes a voltage comparator with multiple comparison channels. Each comparison channel includes two input terminals and one output terminal. One of the two input terminals is used to input a reference voltage, and the other is connected to the test station to receive a classification signal or a test termination signal returned by the test station. The output terminal of the comparison channel includes an LED module. The output terminal is normally off. When the comparison channel receives a classification signal or a test termination signal, the output terminal is turned on, causing the LED module to flash.

[0038] Optionally, the voltage comparator includes four comparison channels.

[0039] Optionally, the test termination path includes nine voltage comparators.

[0040] Optionally, the second TTL communication interface includes various different types of TTL communication interfaces.

[0041] Optionally, the debugging tool debugs four test sites on the test machine each time.

[0042] This embodiment of the invention can replace the sorting machine or probe station in communicating with the testing machine, which can greatly reduce the occupation of sorting machine or probe station resources during development and debugging.

[0043] This debugging tool can be used to debug a communication module designed by our company. Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of a communication module disclosed in this embodiment, such as... Figure 1As shown, the communication module includes a chassis 24, a front panel 23, an Ethernet port 21, a GPIB (General-Purpose Interface Bus) communication interface 22, a TTL communication interface 15, a TTL communication interface 16, and a TTL communication interface 17. The TTL interfaces come in two types: DB37 male and CN57-50 female. TTL communication interfaces 15 and 16 are DB37 male, while TTL communication interface 17 is CN57-50 female. The test machine has eight test stations. TTL communication interface 15 corresponds to the first and second test station channels, TTL communication interface 16 corresponds to the third and fourth test station channels, and TTL communication interface 17 corresponds to the fifth through eighth test station channels. The debugging tool development in this embodiment primarily addresses the TTL communication method of the communication module.

[0044] Furthermore, in another embodiment, taking a sorting machine as an example (which also applies to a probe station), this invention proposes a debugging tool to replace the sorting machine in communicating with the testing machine. Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of a debugging tool provided in this embodiment, such as... Figure 2 As shown, when using the communication debugging tool to debug the communication module of the test machine, a maximum of 4 test stations can be debugged at one time. When debugging the first to the fourth test station, the TTL communication interface 42 and TTL communication interface 43 of the debugging tool are hardware connected to the TTL communication interface 15 and TTL communication interface 16 of the communication module, respectively. When debugging the fifth to the eighth test station, the TTL communication interface 41 of the debugging tool is hardware connected to the TTL communication interface 17 of the communication module.

[0045] The debugging tool area 1 is a switch. When the TTL communication interface 42 and TTL communication interface 43 are used to debug the communication module, the switch controls the transmission of the test start signal from the first test station to the fourth test station respectively. When the TTL communication interface 41 is used to debug the communication module, the switch controls the transmission of the test start signal from the fifth test station to the eighth test station respectively. When the switch is pressed, the debugging tool transmits a low-level signal (test start signal) to the corresponding test station.

[0046] Area 2 of the debugging tool contains LED beads. During actual testing, the testing machine needs to transmit 8 classification signals and 1 test end signal to each test station of the sorting machine. When debugging the communication module of the testing machine using the debugging tool, a maximum of 4 test stations can be debugged at a time, so a total of 36 LED beads are designed. When debugging the communication module using TTL communication interface 42 and TTL communication interface 43, the 36 LED beads correspond to the classification signals and test end signals of the first to fourth test stations, respectively. When debugging the communication module using TTL communication interface 41, the 36 LED beads correspond to the classification signals and test end signals of the fifth to eighth test stations, respectively. When the corresponding test station receives the corresponding signal from the testing machine, the corresponding LED bead will flash once.

[0047] Debugging tool area 3 houses voltage comparators, each with a reference level and a comparison level. When the comparison level is detected to be lower than the reference level, the corresponding channel is activated, illuminating the corresponding LED. Each voltage comparator has four channels, so each comparator is configured to correspond to the classification signal or test end signal of four test stations, thus controlling the corresponding LED to blink. When using TTL communication interfaces 42 and 43 in combination, or using TTL communication interface 41 alone to debug the communication module, there are four test stations, each corresponding to 36 classification signal and test end signal channels, resulting in a total of nine voltage comparators.

[0048] The debugging tool circuit board can be divided into two paths: a test start path and a test end path. Taking the TTL communication interface 42 and the first test station (Site0) as an example, Figure 3 This embodiment provides a Test Start (SOT) circuit diagram, such as... Figure 3 As shown, the sorting machine's communication protocol is active low. When the switch is off, the debugging tool continuously sends a 5V high-level signal to the testing machine, which the testing machine does not recognize. When switch button SW1 is pressed, the switch is turned on, and the signal becomes low, connecting to ground. At this point, the testing machine can recognize the signal, and the debugging tool completes the transmission of the test start signal. The first and fifth test stations share the same switch; the same applies to the other test stations.

[0049] Taking the first test site channel as an example, the test ended. Figure 4 A circuit diagram of an End-of-Test (EOT) path provided in this embodiment is shown below. Figure 4As shown, the voltage comparator chip has a 5V power supply port to ensure normal operation. In addition, the voltage comparator chip has four signal channels, corresponding to the first to fourth categories of the first test station. Each channel has a reference voltage, set to 2.5V in this invention. Initially, the voltage of each signal channel is higher than the reference voltage, the signal channel is not conducting, and no current flows through the LED beads on the corresponding signal channel, so the LED beads are not lit. When the debugging tool receives the category signal from the testing machine, the corresponding channel goes low, the voltage is lower than the reference voltage, the signal channel conducts, and the LED beads on the corresponding signal channel flash. The fifth to eighth categories of the first test station are controlled by a second voltage comparator. The first and fifth test stations share the same voltage comparator, and the other test stations are similarly controlled.

[0050] The operation procedure for using the debugging tool is as follows: First, establish a hardware connection between the test machine and the debugging tool, and enable the communication module (located on the test machine) control program. Second, press the switch button for the corresponding test station on the debugging tool to send a test start signal to the test machine. Third, after the test machine receives the test start signal, the corresponding test station begins testing. Fourth, the test machine returns the corresponding classification signal or test end signal, and the corresponding LED on the debugging tool flashes once, indicating that the classification signal or test end signal has been received. Fifth, verify that the classification signal and test end signal sent by the test machine correspond one-to-one with the LED on the debugging tool to complete the communication module test.

[0051] This embodiment also discloses debugging software installed in the testing machine. Figure 5 The flowchart of the debugging software provided in this embodiment is as follows: Figure 5 As shown, if debugging software is used, the test procedure is as follows: First, establish a hardware connection between the test machine and the debugging tool, and start running the debugging software. Second, press the switch button for the corresponding test station on the debugging tool to send a test start signal to the test machine. Third, the corresponding test station indicator light will illuminate on the debugging software interface, showing that the test start signal has been received; verify that the information is correct. Fourth, the debugging software returns the set classification signal or test end signal, and the corresponding LED on the debugging tool will flash once, indicating that the classification signal or test end signal has been received. Fifth, verify that the classification signal and test end signal sent by the debugging software correspond one-to-one with the LED beads on the debugging tool to complete the communication module test.

[0052] This utility model replaces the communication between the sorting machine and the testing machine, which can greatly reduce the occupation of sorting machine resources during development and debugging; when the communication between the testing machine and the sorting machine fails, it can reduce the communication difficulties caused by the user's testing machine and sorting machine being from different manufacturers; it is compatible with multiple models of TTL communication interfaces.

[0053] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of this utility model, and not to limit it. Although this utility model has been described in detail with reference to the foregoing embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that modifications can still be made to the technical solutions described in the foregoing embodiments, or equivalent substitutions can be made to some of the technical features. Such modifications or substitutions do not cause the essence of the corresponding technical solutions to deviate from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of this utility model.

Claims

1. A debug tool for a radio frequency tester, characterized by, The debug tool comprises: a second TTL communication interface, which enables the debug tool to be communicatively connected with the first TTL communication interface of the test machine; a test start path, which is connected with the second TTL communication interface and used for transmitting a test start signal; a test end path, which is connected with the second TTL communication interface and used for receiving a classification signal or a test end signal.

2. The debug tool for a radio frequency tester of claim 1, wherein, The test start path comprises: a switch; a power supply device, which is connected with a test site of the test machine when the switch is off, and provides a high-level signal to the test site through the second TTL communication interface and the first TTL communication interface, and which is grounded when the switch is on, so that the test start path provides a low-level signal to the test site through the second TTL communication interface and the first TTL communication interface, and the low-level signal serves as the test start signal.

3. The debug tool for a radio frequency tester of claim 2, wherein, The debug tool comprises four test start paths.

4. The debug tool for a radio frequency tester of claim 3, wherein, The four test start paths share the same power supply device.

5. The debug tool for a radio frequency tester of claim 2, wherein, The test end path comprises a voltage comparator, which has a plurality of comparison channels, each of which comprises two input ends and one output end, one of the two input ends is connected with a reference voltage, and the other is connected with the test site and used for receiving the classification signal or the test end signal returned by the test site, and the output end of the comparison channel comprises an LED module, and the output end is in a normal-off state, and when the comparison channel receives the classification signal or the test end signal, the output end is turned on, so that the LED module flashes.

6. The debug tool for a radio frequency tester of claim 5, wherein, The voltage comparator comprises four comparison channels.

7. The debug tool for a radio frequency tester of claim 5, wherein, The test end path comprises nine voltage comparators.

8. The debug tool for a radio frequency tester according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein, The second TTL communication interface comprises a plurality of different types of TTL communication interfaces.

9. The debug tool for a radio frequency tester of claim 1, wherein, The debug tool debugs four test sites of the test machine at a time.

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