JPH1183939A - Evaluation board management system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To simply and correctly grasp the use time of a burn-in board. SOLUTION: A burn-in board is provided with an accumulated power supply time-monitoring circuit comprising a clock generation circuit 61, a counter 62, a subtractor 63 and a nonvolatile memory 64. When the burn-in board is mounted to a burn-in apparatus and the power supply is started, an accumulated time value is set as an initial value of the subtractor 63 from the nonvolatile memory 64. The accumulated time value is subtracted and rewritten every time the counter 62 counts 30 minutes. When the accumulated time value exceeds a threshold value, an LED driver 65 turns on an LED 5. The accumulated time value can be judged by an RF-ID chip in compliance with an instruction from an inquiring device.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an evaluation board management system, and more particularly to a semiconductor integrated circuit (LSI chip).
The present invention relates to a management system for an evaluation board used for a burn-in test or the like for performing a life test or the like of an LSI chip by attaching a chip.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when evaluating the reliability of a prototyped semiconductor device, or when previously removing a mass-produced semiconductor device that may cause an initial failure before shipment, the semiconductor device is required. In a device inspection process, test burn-in for applying a temperature stress and an electric stress is performed.

A test burn-in apparatus used for the test burn-in generally includes a burn-in board (evaluation board) as a board on which a large number of semiconductor devices to be tested are mounted, a thermostatic bath for supplying a temperature stress, and a supply of an electric stress. And a test burn-in device main body circuit. The burn-in board is detachably provided in the constant temperature bath, and is connected to a test burn-in device main body circuit via a connector attached to a rear side wall surface of the constant temperature bath. Further, the temperature chamber is provided with a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of an atmosphere circulating in the temperature chamber for temperature control.

A burn-in board is composed of a plurality of (for example, about 50) ICs on a burn-in board substrate made of a printed board.
Sockets are implemented. Then, a burn-in board in which the IC under test is mounted on the IC socket is provided in units of several tens.
I was inserted into the thermostat of the burn-in test equipment
The high-temperature test is performed while C is operated.

At this time, since the burn-in board is repeatedly subjected to high-temperature stress for several tens of hours, the wiring, resistance, capacitor and the like of the IC socket and the burn-in board are deteriorated. For this reason, it is necessary to periodically perform a functional inspection of the burn-in board itself at every predetermined energizing time (use time). In the above-described conventional burn-in board inspection, an identification code is printed on the burn-in board, the identification code is managed in a database, and the burn-in board used for a predetermined time is burn-in in order to control the timing of performing the function inspection of the burn-in board itself. The board was managed so that it could be passed to the function inspection process. In some cases, identification codes were managed by converting them into bar codes.

[0006]

However, it takes a lot of man-hours to individually manage the use time of each of hundreds to thousands of burn-in boards for one product, and it is irrespective of the specification results. At present, 100% inspection is performed after a certain period (for example, 6 months). In this case, there is a concern that an inspection is performed on an item that has not been used, resulting in an economic loss, and an item that is used for a longer time than expected is used while causing a problem.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an evaluation board management system which solves the above-mentioned problem and can easily and accurately grasp the use time of a burn-in board so that an inspection can be performed at an appropriate timing according to the use time. I do.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, an evaluation board management system according to the present invention comprises a holding means for detachably holding a semiconductor integrated circuit and an evaluation method for the semiconductor integrated circuit held by the holding means. In the evaluation board management system which manages the inspection time and the like of the evaluation board formed with the circuit section for performing the operation, the counting means for counting the power supply time to the evaluation board and the counting result of the counting means are provided on the evaluation board. Non-volatile storage means for holding the accumulated energization time information obtained based on the data, data reading means for reading the accumulated energization time information from the volatile storage means of the evaluation board, and accumulated energization time information from each evaluation board And management means for performing maintenance management of the evaluation board based on the

An evaluation board according to the present invention is an evaluation board comprising: a holding means for detachably holding a semiconductor integrated circuit; and a circuit unit for evaluating the semiconductor integrated circuit held by the holding means. On the board, there is provided a cumulative power-on time calculating means for obtaining and holding the cumulative power-on time information of the power to the evaluation board. By providing the evaluation board itself with a means for counting and holding its own energizing time, the use time of the evaluation board can be easily and accurately grasped.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the burn-in board according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The burn-in board 1 includes a plurality of IC sockets 3 for mounting IC chips on a burn-in board substrate 2, and the IC sockets 3 are connected to a connector 4 by a wiring pattern (not shown). Further, on the burn-in board 2, a management chip 6 for measuring an accumulated energization time described later and an LED indicator 5 connected thereto are attached.

The burn-in board 1 is loaded with an IC chip to be inspected in an IC socket 3 and is held in a thermostat of a burn-in device (not shown). After that, the test device checks whether the functional characteristics of the IC chip do not satisfy the specifications. The IC chip to be inspected is loaded into the IC socket 3 and replaced every time the inspection is performed, but the burn-in board 1 itself is repeatedly used many times. Then, dirt on the surface of the electrode terminals of the IC socket 3 and stress accumulate on solder portions and patterns of various circuits, and some of the electrical characteristics deteriorate. Since an accurate inspection cannot be performed with such a burn-in board, the burn-in board is periodically inspected. The present invention is for accurately managing the timing of this periodic inspection. Since the burn-in board is designed according to the IC chip to be inspected, there may be tens of thousands of burn-in boards. Therefore, a database or the like is constructed and managed in order to accurately manage the timing of the periodic inspection. However, as the number of burn-in boards increases, the management becomes more difficult.

Therefore, in the present invention, the burn-in board itself has a function of determining the timing of the periodic inspection. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a detailed circuit block of the management chip 6. The management chip 6 includes a clock generation circuit 61, a counter 62, a subtractor (or adder) 63, a rewritable nonvolatile memory 64, an LED driver circuit 65, and a controller 66. The memory 64 stores an accumulated time to perform a periodic inspection first. When the burn-in board 1 is mounted on a burn-in device (not shown), power is supplied from the connector 4. Then the controller 6
6 sets the accumulated time stored in the non-volatile memory 64 to the subtractor 63 as an initial value. Clock generation circuit 6
1 continuously generates a clock during the power supply period. still,
In this description, the clock generation circuit 61 is provided in the management chip 6. However, the clock may be supplied from a clock generator provided for the logic circuit of the burn-in board 1, or may be supplied from the burn-in device through the connector 4. May be supplied.

The counter 62 counts up the clock from the clock generation circuit 61 and outputs a pulse, for example, about once every 30 minutes. This pulse is supplied to the subtractor 63, which subtracts the initial value by one and rewrites the contents of the memory 64. The output of the subtractor 63 is also supplied to the controller 66, and the controller 66
The LED driver circuit 65 is activated when the value supplied from the
Turn on the ED. The burn-in operator uses this LE
When the lighting of D is confirmed, the burn-in board 1 is stored in a storage area for periodic inspection after the test is completed.

The burn-in board of the actual burn-in device may not be visible to the operator of the burn-in board 1 under test in some cases. In such a case, it is separately provided before or after the start of the test. Insert the burn-in board 1 into the device that energizes the burn-in board 1
By checking the blinking of, it is possible to check whether the accumulated time has exceeded the specified time. When such a dedicated reading device is provided, the data stored in the memory 64 may be read and displayed.

In this embodiment, the subtracter 63 is used. However, the output of the counter 62 is added to
The output of No. 2 and the value read from the memory 64 may be compared by a comparator, and the LED may be turned on when the difference between the two becomes less than or equal to a predetermined value. In this embodiment, the content of the memory 64 is updated every 30 minutes.
Even if the burn-in board 1 is pulled out during the burn-in test, an error of up to 30 minutes is sufficient, for example, 1000
Sufficient accuracy for time thresholds.

Before or after the end of the test, the burn-in board 1 is inserted into a separately provided device and the memory 64 is inserted.
When the stored data is read out and displayed, the LED indicator 5 may be unnecessary. Second embodiment of the present invention
An embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a configuration of the burn-in board according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The burn-in board 1 includes a plurality of IC sockets 3 for mounting IC chips on a burn-in board substrate 2, and the IC sockets 3 are connected to a connector 4 by a wiring pattern (not shown). Also, on the burn-in board substrate 2, a management chip 6 for measuring the cumulative energization time, an RF-ID chip 10 described later, and an antenna pattern 11 connected to the chip are formed.

Although the operation of the management chip 6 is almost the same as that of the first embodiment, the management chip 6 of this embodiment is different from the first embodiment.
Does not control the lighting of LED5. LED5 lighting is RF
-Controlled by the ID chip 10. During the burn-in test, the contents of the memory 64 are updated by the management chip 6. In this embodiment, the check of the data stored in the memory 64 in the management chip 6 is performed by the RF from the external interrogator.
-It is performed according to a transmission command to the ID chip 10. The burn-in board 1 is stored in a burn-in board storage shelf or the like. An antenna of an interrogator, which will be described later, is arranged near the burn-in board storage shelf or the like.
4 or only the burn-in boards whose storage data is less than the threshold value are
By instructing the ED to emit light, only the LED of the corresponding burn-in board in the burn-in board storage shelf emits light at the time of periodic inspection, so the operator extracts only the burn-in board whose LED is emitting light and sends it to the periodic inspection. Can do things.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the configuration of the RF-ID chip 10. As shown in FIG. A transmission / reception coil 31, a tuning capacitor 32 connected in parallel to the transmission / reception coil 31,
And a demodulation circuit 34 for performing FSK demodulation and an internal processing circuit 3
5, transmission modulation circuit 36, transmission load circuit 37, switching transistor 39, voltage regulator circuit 40
Having. Like the general signal processing circuit, the internal processing circuit 35 includes a CPU 35a, a RAM 35b, a ROM 35c storing programs and the like, an electrically rewritable EEPROM.
A ROM 35d and an interface 35e are provided.

The LED driver 41 is driven via the interface 35e, and the LED 42 emits light. Also,
The memory 64 in the management chip 6 is connected to the RF-ID chip 10 via the interface 35e (or via the bus 35f). Since the power of the RF-ID chip 6 is supplied by an external electromagnetic wave as described later, the electromagnetic wave is not supplied during the burn-in test, and the chip is in a stopped state. Therefore, the memory 64 in the management chip 6
Operates under the control of only the controller 66 during the burn-in test.

At the time of the periodic inspection after the burn-in test is completed, the interrogator polls the data stored in the memory 64 or instructs only the burn-in board whose stored data is equal to or less than the threshold value to emit the LED. Then, the RF-ID chip 10 reads the data stored in the memory 64 and compares the read data with a threshold value. To emit light.
Therefore, only the LED of the corresponding burn-in board in the burn-in board storage shelf emits light, and the
Only the burn-in board where D emits light can be extracted and sent for periodic inspection.

The general configuration and operation of the RF-ID will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of an interrogator for sending a command to the RF-ID chip 10. In the figure, an interrogator A includes an oscillating circuit 11 for generating a basic signal of a carrier, and a frequency dividing circuit for generating a first and a second carrier by dividing the basic signal from the oscillating circuit 11 at different frequency division ratios. 12, a selection circuit 15 for selecting and outputting one carrier from the first and second carriers, an output amplifier 16, an antenna coil 17, and a tuning capacitor 18. The interrogator 10 further includes an internal processing circuit 19 for generating a transmission signal and a demodulation circuit 20 for processing a signal received by the antenna coil 17. The antenna coil 17 corresponds to the antenna pattern 11 provided on the burn-in board 1 in the configuration of FIG. In this figure, the input of the demodulation circuit 20 is the antenna coil 17, but a receiving coil may be separately provided concentrically with the antenna coil 17. The oscillation circuit 11 generates, for example, a 4 MHz reference signal.
This reference signal is supplied to first and second frequency dividing circuits 12 and 13, and the signal (125 KHz) divided by the first frequency dividing circuit 12 to 1/32 and 1/32 by the second frequency dividing circuit 13. A signal (117.6470588 KHz) divided by / 34 is obtained.

When the internal processing circuit 19 instructs the transmission of the data of the logical value "1", the output of the first frequency dividing circuit 12 is selected by the selecting circuit 15 and the signal of 125 KHz is output via the output amplifier 16. Send to antenna coil 17. On the other hand, when the internal processing circuit 19 instructs the transmission of the data of the logical value “0”, the output of the second frequency dividing circuit 13 is selected by the selecting circuit 15 and the signal of 117.6470588 KHz is transmitted through the output amplifier 16. To the antenna coil 17.

After the data transmission, the output of the first frequency dividing circuit 12 is selected by the selecting circuit 15 for transmitting power to the RF-ID chip 10, and a signal of 125 KHz is transmitted through the output amplifier 16 to the antenna coil 17. Continue to send to. The tuning frequency of the tuning circuit composed of the transmitting / receiving coil 31 and the tuning capacitor 32 of the RF-ID chip 10 is the center of two frequencies of 125 KHz and 117.6470588 KHz,
That is, the root (125 KHz × 117.6470588)
= 121.2678125 KHz. Therefore, the RF-ID chip 10 can receive a signal of almost the same strength both when receiving the logical value “1” and when receiving the logical value “0”. RF-ID chip 10
Is used by converting a carrier wave received by a tuning circuit composed of a transmitting and receiving coil 31 and a tuning capacitor 32 into a direct current by a diode 33a and a smoothing capacitor 33b of a rectifier circuit 33. A voltage regulator 40 is provided to further stabilize the voltage used in the internal processing circuit 35.

When data is transmitted from the RF-ID chip 10 to the interrogator A, the internal C
The data generated by the PU is transmitted to the modulation circuit 36 via the interface 35e, and the switching transistor 39 is turned on / off according to the output of the modulation circuit.
Then, the current flowing through the transmitting / receiving coil 31 changes, and the strength of the electromagnetic coupling between the transmitting / receiving coil 31 and the antenna coil 17 changes. The demodulation circuit 20 of the interrogator A has the antenna coil 1
7, a demodulation of the data from the RF-ID chip 10 is detected by detecting a change in the voltage generated at both ends of the signal 7, specifically, a change in the amplitude of the 125 KHz signal output from the first frequency dividing circuit 14. Actually, the demodulation operation is performed by a band-pass filter by detecting the change in the amplitude and phase of the sub-band of the 125 KHz signal output from the first frequency divider 14.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The embodiment shown in FIG. 6 is the RF-I of FIG.
D chip 10 and management chip 6 are integrated into one
The CPU controls the accumulated energization time using the CPU in the ID chip 10. C in RF-ID chip 10
Since the PU 35a, the clock generation circuit 35g, and the non-volatile memory 35d are provided, if the counter 62 and the subtractor 63 in the management chip 6 are replaced by the function of the CPU 35a, the operation of the management chip 6 is all performed by the RF-ID chip 10. Can be replaced by An interrupt is generated in the ROM 35c every 30 minutes from the start of operation based on the clock of the clock generation circuit 35g in advance, and the EEPROM 35d
It is only necessary to store the program so that the accumulated energization time data stored in the program is reduced by 30 minutes.

However, as described above, since the power of the RF-ID chip 10 is supplied by an external electromagnetic wave as described later, the electromagnetic wave is not supplied during the burn-in test, and the chip is stopped. Therefore, in order to activate the RF-ID chip 6 also during the burn-in test, the input of the voltage regulator circuit 40 is connected to the diode 41.
It is configured to be connected to a power supply line on the burn-in board 1 via a. During the burn-in test, power is directly supplied from the burn-in device to the RF-ID chip 10 via the connector 4 of the burn-in board 1.

According to the third embodiment, since the function of the management chip 6 can be replaced by the RF-ID chip 10, the circuit can be simplified. Note that the management chip 6 and the RF-ID
Since the chip 10 itself is also continuously heated in the thermostat, the management chip 6 and the RF-ID chip 10 themselves also deteriorate.
Therefore, in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the management chip 6, the RF-ID chip 10, and the LED 5 are described as being directly fixed to the burn-in board substrate 2.
The socket is fixed to the burn-in board substrate 2, and the chip can be replaced through the socket. When the burn-in board 1 is inspected, a functional test is performed on the management chip 6 and the RF-ID chip 10, and a chip in which a defect is found is replaced with a new management chip 6 or an RF-ID chip 10. At this time, the ROM 35 in the RF-ID chip 10
A test program may be stored in c to perform the inspection.

In the above description, the present invention has been described by taking an evaluation board as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to the evaluation board but can be applied to other applications. For example, by providing a means for storing the accumulated energizing time on a general printed circuit board, the accumulated energizing time can be checked at the time of maintenance of the printed circuit board, or the accumulated energizing time can be measured at the time of regular maintenance of the device on which the printed board is mounted. By checking or confirming the light emission of the LED, it is possible to know exactly when to replace the printed circuit board.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an evaluation board management system that can easily and accurately grasp the use time of a burn-in board.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a burn-in board according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a burn-in board according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of a management chip 6.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an RF-ID chip 10 according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an interrogator according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an RF-ID chip 10 according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Burn-in board 3 IC socket 4 Connector 5 LED 6 Management chip 10 RF-ID chip 61 Clock generation circuit 62 Counter 63 Subtractor 64 Nonvolatile memory 65 LED driver A Interrogator

Claims (7)

[Claims] An evaluation for managing an inspection timing of an evaluation board on which a holding unit for detachably holding a semiconductor integrated circuit and a circuit unit for evaluating the semiconductor integrated circuit held by the holding unit are formed. In the board management system, on the evaluation board, a counting unit that counts a power supply time to the evaluation board, and a non-volatile storage unit that holds accumulated power supply time information obtained based on a count result of the counting unit. Data reading means for reading the cumulative energizing time information from the nonvolatile storage means of the evaluation board; and managing means for performing maintenance management of the evaluation board based on the cumulative energizing time information from each of the evaluation boards. And an evaluation board management system characterized by having: 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: transmitting means for transmitting the cumulative energization time information by electromagnetic waves on the evaluation board; and wherein the data reading means includes receiving means for receiving electromagnetic waves from the transmitting means. An evaluation board management system characterized by the following. 3. An evaluation for managing a test time and the like of an evaluation board on which a holding means for detachably holding a semiconductor integrated circuit and a circuit unit for evaluating the semiconductor integrated circuit held by the holding means are formed. In the board management system, an antenna coil on the evaluation board, a counting unit that counts a power supply time to the evaluation board, and a non-volatile memory that stores accumulated conduction time information obtained based on a count result of the counting unit Storage means, transmission means for transmitting the storage information of the non-volatile storage means via the antenna coil, reception means for receiving transmission data from the antenna coil, and cumulative energization time information from each evaluation board A management means for performing maintenance management of the evaluation board based on the evaluation board management system. 4. An evaluation board on which a holding unit for detachably holding a semiconductor integrated circuit and a circuit unit for evaluating the semiconductor integrated circuit held by the holding unit are formed. An evaluation board provided with a cumulative power-on time calculating means for obtaining and holding cumulative power-on time information of electric power to the evaluation board. 5. The evaluation board according to claim 4, wherein transmission means for transmitting the cumulative energization time information by electromagnetic waves is provided on the evaluation board. 6. The evaluation board according to claim 4, wherein display means is provided on the evaluation board for emitting light when the cumulative energization time information exceeds a predetermined value. 7. A circuit board board on which a holding means for holding a semiconductor integrated circuit and a circuit section for operating the semiconductor integrated circuit held by the holding means are formed. A circuit board board provided with a cumulative power-on time calculating means for obtaining and holding the cumulative power-on time information of power to the circuit board board.