ATE Contactor Adapter for Universal Test Board Compatibility
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Solution Overview
Problem
The commercialization of electronic devices is often delayed due to the unavailability of specialty equipment and test routines for testing integrated circuits, leading to increased costs and inefficiencies in the manufacturing process.
Innovation Solution
The development of an automatic test equipment (ATE) contactor adapter that is compatible with various test boards, featuring a set of contact components to establish signal conduction between a device under test and a test board, even when the test board lacks a compatible contactor, using a retainer component with aligned holes and conductive pins to ensure proper contact and alignment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If specialty equipment and test routines are not available for testing integrated circuits, then commercialization delays occur and costs increase, but developing custom test equipment for each device increases device complexity and manufacturing overhead
Solution Approach 1:
The adapter board is designed with a universal interface that can accommodate multiple different conductive pad layouts through reconfigurable contact components. The same adapter hardware can be used across different test boards and integrated circuit packages, eliminating the need to develop custom test equipment for each device type. This multi-functionality resolves the contradiction by providing a single versatile solution rather than multiple specialized devices.
Solution Approach 2:
The adapter board acts as an intermediary component between the test board and the integrated circuit package. It includes conductive pins that contact the conductive pads on the test board and additional contact components that interface with the integrated circuit, bridging the interface gap between incompatible components. This mediator approach enables testing without requiring custom equipment development for each device combination.
2Reliability
If a packaged or unpackaged integrated circuit is tested at different nodes to characterize the circuit, then testing completeness improves, but the requirement for multiple specialized test setups increases manufacturing complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The adapter board enables a single test setup to perform comprehensive testing at multiple nodes by providing access to different contact points. The universal design allows the same adapter to work with various integrated circuit packages and test configurations, achieving complete characterization without requiring multiple specialized test systems.
Solution Approach 2:
The testing process is segmented into different nodes that can be accessed through the same adapter board. The adapter provides multiple contact components that can be selectively engaged to test different functional nodes of the integrated circuit, allowing comprehensive testing through a unified platform rather than requiring separate specialized equipment for each node.
3Measurement precision
If custom test equipment is developed for each integrated circuit package, then testing accuracy improves, but development time and costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of developing custom test equipment for each integrated circuit package, the invention uses a standardized adapter board design that can be replicated and adapted for different packages. The contact components and conductive pin arrangements can be copied or reconfigured to match different pad layouts without requiring complete custom equipment development, maintaining testing accuracy while reducing development time.
Solution Approach 2:
The adapter board allows testing accuracy to be maintained by changing physical parameters such as the arrangement of contact components and conductive pins to match different integrated circuit packages. Rather than developing new equipment, the existing adapter design is adapted by modifying contact patterns and configurations to achieve precise testing for each package type.
Data Source
AI summary
An automatic test equipment (ATE) contactor adapter compatible with at least one test board. The contactor adapter includes a contactor adapter body having a first side and a second side. The contactor adapter body includes: 1) a first set of contact components disposed on the first side in an arrangement to contact conductive pads of the at least one test board; and 2) a second set of contact components disposed on the second side and coupled to the first set of contact points. The contactor adapter also includes an adapter interface disposed on the contactor adapter body. The adapter interface includes a third set of contact components coupled to the second set of contact components. The ATE contactor adapter is configured to convey signals between a device under test (DUT) and the at least one test board via the first, second, and third sets of contact components.