Automated Test Equipment Signal Merging for Parallel DUT Testing
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Solution Overview
Problem
The high complexity and cost of testing modern electronic devices due to the need for multiple automated test equipment resources, which can lead to either expensive parallel testing or slow sequential testing.
Innovation Solution
An automated test equipment that generates a combined signal with multiple signal components and provides it to multiple pins of a single or multiple devices under test, allowing simultaneous testing with a single resource, and extracts individual signals from the combined signal for measurement.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If multiple automated test equipment resources are used for parallel testing, then testing speed is improved, but equipment cost and device complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple signal measurements into a single composite signal that is measured by one automated test equipment resource. Multiple DUT pins are connected to different signal lines that are combined into a single measurement signal, allowing parallel testing of multiple devices without requiring multiple independent measurement resources.
Solution Approach 2:
A single automated test equipment resource is made universal by enabling it to measure multiple different signal types simultaneously through the combination approach. The same measurement resource can handle digital signals, analog signals, and mixed signals by combining them into a single measurement channel, eliminating the need for separate resources for each signal type.
2Device complexity
If a single automated test equipment resource is used for sequential testing, then equipment cost is reduced, but testing speed decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple sequential measurement operations into a single simultaneous measurement by combining multiple signals into one composite signal. This allows one test equipment resource to perform what would otherwise require multiple sequential operations, thereby maintaining simplicity while improving speed.
Solution Approach 2:
The measurement process becomes continuous and simultaneous rather than sequential. By combining multiple signals into a single measurement channel, the test equipment continuously measures all signals at the same time without interruption or switching between different measurement operations.
3Measurement precision
If multiple automated test equipment resources are allocated to multiple pins, then measurement precision is improved, but resource cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple signal measurements into a single measurement operation without sacrificing precision. By using signal combination techniques (such as multiplexing or superposition), the system maintains the ability to accurately measure individual signals while using only one test equipment resource.
4Device complexity
If sequential switching is used to share a single resource among multiple signals, then equipment cost is reduced, but testing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent eliminates the need for sequential switching by implementing continuous simultaneous measurement of multiple signals. The combination approach allows the test equipment to measure all signals at the same time without switching between them, thereby removing the time loss associated with sequential operations while keeping equipment resources minimal.
Data Source
AI summary
An automated test equipment for testing devices under test is configured to combine different output signals from multiple pins of a single device under test or from pins of a plurality of devices under test to obtain a combined signal; and to extract individual signals or properties of the individual signals from the combined signal.