Automated Test Equipment Command Error Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
The increasing complexity of Systems on a Chip (SOCs) leads to escalating amounts of test data that are challenging to store and process efficiently, with longer test times and difficulties in distributing test data and clock signals, while maintaining quality and reliability expectations in applications like automobiles and communication infrastructure.
Innovation Solution
The automated test equipment employs a high-speed-input-output interface with a port processing unit that includes a streaming error detection block to limit data storage after detecting command errors, uses pre-loaded expect data for comparison, and implements data compression and statistical analysis to optimize memory usage and processing power.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If test data is stored in memory for later processing, then data analysis capability is improved, but memory usage increases and processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by performing error detection on test data immediately upon receipt through the HSIO interface, before the data is stored in memory. The streaming error detection block continuously monitors incoming test data and identifies errors in real-time, allowing the system to store only valid data without wasting memory space on erroneous data that would require later processing and validation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements self-service through the streaming error detection block that autonomously monitors and validates test data as it flows through the interface. This self-validating mechanism eliminates the need for separate post-processing validation steps, thereby reducing both memory requirements and overall processing time while maintaining data analysis capability.
2Loss of information
If all received test data is stored and processed, then data completeness is improved, but processing power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary error detection on incoming test data before it enters the storage and processing pipeline. By validating data completeness and accuracy at the point of receipt through the streaming error detection block, the system avoids storing incomplete or erroneous data, thereby reducing the total processing power required while maintaining data completeness for valid test cases.
Solution Approach 2:
The system extracts and removes erroneous data from the test data stream immediately upon detection, preventing this invalid data from consuming processing power in subsequent analysis stages. The streaming error detection block identifies and excludes defective data packets, ensuring that only valid data proceeds to memory storage and detailed processing, thus optimizing processing power consumption.
3Productivity
If test data is transmitted at high speed, then testing efficiency is improved, but error detection capability may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent maintains continuous error detection capability throughout the high-speed data transmission process. The streaming error detection block operates continuously in parallel with the data flow, providing uninterrupted monitoring and validation of test data as it is transmitted at high speeds through the HSIO interface, thus preserving reliability without sacrificing testing efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The streaming error detection block serves as an intermediary between the high-speed HSIO interface and the memory storage system. It mediates the data flow by continuously validating incoming data at high speeds and selectively passing only valid data to storage, thereby maintaining both the high transmission efficiency required for productivity and the rigorous error detection capability required for reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
An automated test equipment for testing one or more devices under test, comprises at least one port processing unit, comprising a high-speed-input-output interface, HSIO, for connecting with at least one of the devices under test, a memory for storing data received by the port processing unit from one or more connected devices under test, and a streaming error detection block, configured to detect a command error in the received data, wherein the port processing unit is configured to, in response to detection of the command error, limit the storing in the memory of data following, in the received data, after the command which is detected to be erroneous. A method and computer program for automated testing of one or more devices under test are also described.