Distributing LCD Driver Test Data Across Multiple Boards
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Solution Overview
Problem
Automatic test equipment (ATE) faces challenges in obtaining a full set of test data from devices with a large number of pins, as the pins often span multiple test boards, leading to incomplete data collection.
Innovation Solution
The system distributes data among multiple test boards by processing partial results from each board to determine test parameters, allowing communication and sharing of results between boards to compile a complete set of data, using processing devices and circuit boards with multiple channels to handle pins effectively.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the number of pins on the DUT exceeds the number of channels in an instrument slot, then the DUT can be tested with available channels, but the test board cannot obtain a full set of test data from the DUT
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the test data collection across multiple instrument boards. Each board handles a subset of pins (e.g., Board 1 handles pins 1-256, Board 2 handles pins 257-512), and the results are aggregated to provide complete test data for all pins. This segmentation allows the system to test DUTs with more pins than individual boards can accommodate while maintaining data completeness.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the partial test results from multiple instrument boards to reconstruct the complete test data set. The aggregation process combines data from all boards to provide comprehensive test results for the entire DUT, ensuring no information is lost despite the distributed architecture.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the DUT spans multiple test boards, then more pins can be tested, but some DUT pins provide test data to one test board and other DUT pins provide test data to one or more other test boards
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements segmentation by dividing the DUT pins into groups that map to specific instrument boards. Each board is assigned a defined range of pins, creating a systematic partitioning that simplifies the data distribution architecture while enabling coverage of more pins than a single board could handle alone.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary aggregation mechanism that collects partial results from multiple boards and synthesizes them into complete test data. This intermediary layer abstracts the complexity of multi-board data collection, presenting a unified view of all DUT pin test results to the analysis system.
3Productivity
If each test board processes data independently, then processing can be parallelized, but each board needs to receive and process data from multiple sources to determine complete test parameters
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the processing workload across multiple boards, with each board independently processing its assigned pin range. This segmentation enables parallel processing that speeds up overall testing while maintaining manageable complexity at each individual board level.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms where boards exchange partial results and metadata about their processing. This feedback loop enables boards to coordinate their operations, ensuring that all necessary data is collected and processed correctly while maintaining the benefits of parallel processing.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for testing a liquid crystal display (LCD) driver includes multiple test boards, each which includes multiple channels that correspond to data channels of fee LCD driver, a device interface board that acts as an interface between the multiple test boards and the LCD driver, a computing device configured to communicate with the multiple test boards, and one or more communications buses over which the computing device communicates with the multiple test boards. Each of the multiple test boards receives partial test data from data channels of the LCD driver, and processes the partial test data to obtain a partial result; and each of the multiple test boards shares a partial result determined from corresponding partial test data with one or more others of the multiple test boards.