TWI512309B - Automatic test equipment and control method thereof - Google Patents

Description

Automatic test equipment and control method thereof

The invention relates to an automatic test device and a control method thereof, and in particular to an automatic test device suitable for a parallel test architecture and a control method thereof.

At present, the automatic test equipment (ATE) on the market performs the analog waveform test on the device under test (DUT). The tester only needs to input the required data according to the test requirements. The parameters to be tested (such as the frequency of the analog waveform), the automatic test equipment can input the analog waveform according to the input data and parameters, and receive the waveform fed back by the device under test for analog test purposes.

The generation of the analog waveform described above is achieved by loading the hardware into the hardware memory, and the hardware memory needs to be written in advance, and the data corresponding to a set of test parameters can only be stored in the data. In a hardware memory.

However, with the advancement of today's semiconductor processes, automated test equipment has evolved toward high-density and complex parallel test architectures to meet high The requirements of the density test channel, but the current automatic test equipment has many resource limitations for the analog test (such as the test depth and the test frequency between different sites), these restrictions will make the automatic test equipment of the original analog channel The use of the situation is even more obvious.

In view of the above problems, the present disclosure provides an automatic test device and a control method thereof. The design of the multiplex module and the control module enables the automatic test device to implement a parallel test architecture by only a single physical memory. The efficiency of the use of this physical memory.

An automatic test device for testing a first device under test according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The automatic test device mainly comprises a storage module, a first multiplex module, a control module and a first digital analog conversion module, wherein the control module is electrically connected to the storage module and the first multiplex module, and the first digit The analog conversion module is electrically connected to the output end of the first multiplex module and the control module. The storage module is configured to store a plurality of data signals. The first multiplex module is configured to receive a plurality of clock signals having different frequencies and output one of the plurality of clock signals according to the control signal. The control module is configured to generate a control signal and selectively read one of the plurality of data signals in the storage module. The first digital analog conversion module is configured to generate a first test signal according to the clock signal output by the first multiplex module and the data signal read by the control module, and output the first test signal to the first test Device.

In an embodiment, the automatic test equipment receives the first test When the feedback signal is output by the device, the first digital analog conversion module samples the feedback signal according to at least one of the plurality of clock signals, and generates a test result signal accordingly.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, an automatic test device control method for testing a first device under test with an automatic test device is provided. The flow of steps of this automatic test equipment control method is as follows. Receiving a plurality of clock signals having different frequencies, and selecting one of the plurality of clock signals. Optionally reading one of a plurality of data signals in the automatic test equipment. And generating a first test signal according to the selected clock signal and the read data signal, and outputting the first test signal to the first device under test.

In an embodiment, when the automatic test device receives the feedback signal output by the first device under test, the automatic test device further samples the feedback signal according to at least one of the plurality of clock signals, and according to To generate test result signals.

In summary, the present disclosure provides an automatic test device and a control method thereof. The automatic test device can select one of a plurality of clock signals through a multiplex module to give characteristics of a corresponding digital analog conversion module. The digital analog conversion module can generate a test signal for the device to be tested according to one of the clock signal selected by the multiplex module and the plurality of data signals stored in the storage module. On the other hand, when the automatic test equipment receives the feedback signal output by the device under test, the digital analog conversion module can The feedback signal is sampled according to the clock signal selected by the multiplex module to demodulate the feedback signal back to the test result signal.

The above description of the disclosure and the following description of the embodiments of the present invention are intended to illustrate and explain the spirit and principles of the invention, and to provide further explanation of the scope of the invention.

1, 1'‧‧‧Automatic test equipment

100‧‧‧ storage module

102, 102a, 102b‧‧‧Multiplex modules

104‧‧‧Control Module

106, 106a, 106b‧‧‧Digital analog conversion module

108‧‧‧Switching module

2, 2a, 2b‧‧‧ device under test

S300~S304‧‧‧Step process

1 is a functional block diagram of an automatic test equipment according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

2 is a functional block diagram of an automatic test equipment according to another embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing the steps of the automatic test equipment control method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The detailed features and advantages of the present invention are set forth in the Detailed Description of the Detailed Description of the <RTIgt; </ RTI> <RTIgt; </ RTI> </ RTI> </ RTI> <RTIgt; The objects and advantages associated with the present invention can be readily understood by those skilled in the art. The following examples are intended to describe the present invention in further detail, but are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.

[An example of an automatic test equipment]

Please refer to FIG. 1 , which is an embodiment according to the present disclosure. Functional block diagram of the automatic test equipment. As shown in FIG. 1 , the automatic test equipment 1 is used to test the first device 2 to be tested. The automatic test device 1 mainly includes a storage module 100 , a first multiplex module 102 , a control module 104 , and a first digit The analog conversion module 106, wherein the first multiplex module 102 and the first digital analog conversion module 106 are electrically connected to each other, and the storage module 100, the first multiplex module 102, and the first digital analog conversion module 106 Both are electrically connected to the control module 104. The function modules of each part of the automatic test equipment 1 will be described in detail below.

The storage module 100 is configured to store a plurality of data signals, wherein the data signals are digital data that the automatic testing device 1 wants to test the first device under test 2 . In practice, the storage module 100 can be a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), and an electrical A non-volatile memory such as an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) or a flash memory, or a dynamic random access A volatile memory such as a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) or a static random access memory (SRAM) is not limited herein.

The first multiplex module 102 is configured to receive a plurality of clock signals having different frequencies, and according to the control signals generated by the control module 104 One of the plurality of clock signals is selected for output. In practice, the first multiplex module 102 can be a multiplexer (MUX). Since the multiplexer technology is already used by those skilled in the art, it will not be further described herein.

In addition, the automatic test equipment 1 may further include a pulse generation module (not shown), wherein the pulse generation module is electrically connected to the first multiplex module 102, and the pulse generation module is used for The plurality of clock signals are provided to the first multiplex module 102. In practice, the clock generation module is an oscillator, and the oscillator can set the frequency and quantity of the output clock signal according to the actual requirements of the automatic test equipment 1.

The control module 104 is configured to generate the control signal and selectively read one of the plurality of data signals from the storage module 100. In practice, the control module can be a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a microcontroller (MCU), or a central processing unit (CPU). The present invention does not Limit it.

The first digital analog conversion module 106 is configured to generate a first test signal according to the clock signal output by the first multiplex module 102 and the data signal read by the control module 104, and output the first test signal. To the first device under test 2. In other words, the first digital analog conversion module 106 is configured to modulate the frequency of the clock signal output by the first multiplex module 102 and the digital data of the data signal read by the control module 104, and according to To produce an analogy The test signal is outputted to the first device under test 2 so that the first device under test 2 can perform a test procedure according to such a comparison test signal.

In addition, when the automatic test equipment 1 receives the feedback signal output by the first device under test 2 (ie, the signal generated when the first device under test 2 performs a test procedure according to the first test signal), the first digital analog conversion mode The group 106 samples the feedback signal according to at least one of the plurality of clock signals, and generates a test result signal accordingly. In other words, when the automatic test device 1 receives the feedback signal output by the first device under test 2, the first digital analog conversion module 106 will be classified according to the frequency of one of the multiple clock signals. The feedback signal of the signal is sampled to demodulate the above feedback signal into a test result signal having a plurality of sampling points. In practice, the first digital analog conversion module 106 can be a combination of a digital to analog converter (DAC) and an analog to digital converter (ADC).

In the actual operation, the first digital analog conversion module 106 can be electrically connected to the first device 2 to be tested through a probe or other transmission port. The invention is not limited herein. In addition, after the first digital analog conversion module 106 demodulates the feedback signal back to the test result signal, the control module 104 can further write the test result signal belonging to the digital signal to the storage module 100, or directly The test result signal is provided to the tester in the form of image, numerical value or sound, and the invention is not limited thereto.

Therefore, the automatic test equipment 1 may further include a prompt module (not The prompting module is electrically connected to the control module 104. The prompting module is configured to generate a group of prompt signals according to the test result signal, and the prompt signal is used to indicate information in the test result signal. . In practice, the prompting module can be a display module (such as a light-emitting diode, a display panel, a seven-segment display, etc.) or a sounding module (such as an electronic sounding component such as a speaker or a buzzer). The invention is not limited herein. If the prompting module is a display module, the prompt signal is presented to the tester in the form of image or light; if the prompting module is a sounding module, the prompt signal is presented to the tester in the form of sound.

[Another embodiment of automatic test equipment]

Please refer to FIG. 2, which is a functional block diagram of an automatic test equipment according to another embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 2, the automatic test equipment 1' is used for testing the first device under test 2a and the second device under test 2b. The automatic test device 1' mainly includes a storage module 100 and a first multiplex module 102a. The second multiplex module 102b, the control module 104, the first digital analog conversion module 106a, the second digital analog conversion module 106b, and the switching module 108, wherein the first multiplex module 102a is compared with the first digit The conversion module 106a is electrically connected to each other, the second multiplex module 102b and the second digital analog conversion module 106b are electrically connected to each other, and the switching module 108 is electrically connected to the first digital analog conversion module 106a and the second digit. The storage module 100, the first multiplex module 102a, the second multiplex module 102b, and the switching module 108 are electrically connected to the control module 104.

Since most of the functional modules of the automatic test equipment 1' of the present embodiment are the same as the automatic test equipment 1 of the previous embodiment, the main difference is only in the number of functional modules, such as the automatic test of this embodiment. The first multiplex module 102a and the second multiplex module 102b of the device 1' are the same as the first multiplex module 102 of the automatic test device 1 of the previous embodiment. The automatic test device 1' of this embodiment The first digital analog conversion module 106a and the second digital analog conversion module 106b are the same as the first digital analog conversion module 106 of the automatic test equipment 1 of the previous embodiment, so the present embodiment does not Describe the operation of the same functional module.

Different from the automatic test equipment 1 of the previous embodiment, the automatic test equipment 1 ′ of the embodiment further includes a switch module 108 controlled by the control module 101 to make the switch module 108 The path between the storage module 100 and the first digital analog conversion module 106a or the path between the storage module 100 and the second digital analog conversion module 106b can be selectively turned on.

Therefore, in the actual operation, the automatic test equipment 1' of the embodiment can perform the parallel test action on the first device under test 2a and the second device under test 2b through the switching module 108. For example, in the process that the automatic test equipment 1' receives the feedback signal output by the first device under test 2a and causes the first digital analog conversion module 106a to sample the feedback signal, the switching module 108 turns on the storage. The path between the module 100 and the second digital analog conversion module 106b is such that the second digital analog conversion module 106b can be read by the control module 104 according to the clock signal output by the second multiplexing module 102b. Information signal Generate a second test signal. Then, in the process that the second digital analog conversion module 106b outputs the second test signal to the second device under test 2b, the switching module 108 turns on the path between the storage module 100 and the first digital analog conversion module 106b. So that the control module 104 can write the test result signal generated by the first digital analog conversion module 106a to the storage module 100, or provide the test result signal to the tester in an image, numerical value or sound manner. .

In addition, although the automatic test equipment 1' of the embodiment has two multiplex modules (ie, the first multiplex module 102a and the second multiplex module 102b) and two digital analog conversion modules (ie, a digital analog conversion module 106a and a second digital analog conversion module 106b), but the present invention does not limit the number of multiplex modules and digital analog conversion modules in the automatic test equipment, and has the technical field. Usually, the knowledger can design a reasonable structure according to the number of devices to be tested that are simultaneously tested.

It is to be noted that the automatic test device 1 ′ of the embodiment of the present invention can achieve the resource allocation of the storage module 100 through the function of the control module 104 and the switch module 108 , so that the storage module 100 of the embodiment of the present invention can For a single memory, the single memory has a plurality of memory blocks, each of which stores one of the plurality of data signals. In addition, in some cases, the control module 104 can write the test result signal into one of the memory blocks in the storage module 100.

[An example of an automatic test equipment control method]

Please refer to FIG. 3, which is a diagram according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Flow chart of the steps of the dynamic test equipment control method. As shown in Fig. 3, the automatic test equipment control method is applied to the automatic test equipment 1 shown in Fig. 1 or the automatic test equipment 1' shown in Fig. 2. The steps of each step in the automatic test equipment control method will be described in detail below.

In step S300, the automatic test equipment 1 (or the automatic test equipment 1') receives a plurality of clock signals having different frequencies, and selects one of the clock signals. In step S302, the automatic test equipment 1 (or the automatic test equipment 1') selectively reads one of the plurality of data signals in the automatic test equipment 1 (or the automatic test equipment 1'). In step S304, the automatic test equipment 1 (or the automatic test equipment 1') generates a first test signal according to the selected clock signal and the read data signal, and outputs the first test signal to the first Device 2 to be tested (or first device under test 2a).

It should be noted that the automatic test device control method in this embodiment does not limit the sequence of step S300 and step S302. In other words, step S302 may be performed before step S300, or step S300 and step S302 may be simultaneously performed. Executed together. In addition, the number of memories in the automatic test device 1 (or the automatic test device 1') has only one physical memory, and the physical memory has a plurality of memory blocks, and the memory block stores the plurality of data signals. one of them.

In addition, the automatic test device 1 (or the automatic test device 1') automatically tests the device 1 (or automatically tests) when receiving the feedback signal output by the first device under test 2 (or the first device under test 2a). Device 1') is further based at least on the One of the multiple clock signals samples the feedback signal and generates a test result signal accordingly. In some cases, the above test result signal will be written to the physical memory of the automatic test equipment 1 (or the automatic test equipment 1').

In the above, in the step that the automatic test device 1' receives the feedback signal output by the first device under test 2a and samples the feedback signal, the automatic test device 1' can be selected according to the second multiplex module 102b. The clock signal and the read data signal generate a second test signal, and the second test signal is output to the second device under test 2b.

[Possible effects of the examples]

In summary, the embodiments of the present invention provide an automatic test device and a control method thereof. The automatic test device can select one of a plurality of clock signals through a multiplex module to give characteristics of a corresponding digital analog conversion module. The digital analog conversion module can generate a test signal for the device to be tested according to one of the clock signal selected by the multiplex module and the plurality of data signals stored in the storage module. On the other hand, when the automatic test equipment receives the feedback signal output by the device under test, the digital analog conversion module can further sample the feedback signal according to the clock signal selected by the multiplex module to provide a feedback signal. Demodulate the test result signal back. Therefore, the automatic test equipment and the control method thereof in the embodiments of the present invention can perform efficient resource allocation on the storage module, so that the storage module can achieve parallel testing of a plurality of devices to be tested only by using a single memory. Architecture, in addition to reducing auto In addition to reducing the manufacturing cost of the test equipment and reducing the total area of the PCB, it can increase the efficiency of memory usage and is very practical.

Although the present invention has been disclosed above in the above embodiments, it is not intended to limit the invention. It is within the scope of the invention to be modified and modified without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Please refer to the attached patent application for the scope of protection defined by the present invention.

1‧‧‧Automatic test equipment

100‧‧‧ storage module

102‧‧‧Multiplex modules

104‧‧‧Control Module

106‧‧‧Digital analog conversion module

2‧‧‧Device under test

Claims (10)

An automatic test device for testing a first device under test, the automatic test device comprising: a storage module for storing a plurality of data signals; and a first multiplex module for receiving a plurality of frequencies having different frequencies a clock signal, which is selected by one of the clock signals according to a control signal; a control module electrically connected to the storage module and the first multiplex module for generating the control signal And selectively reading one of the data signals; and a first digital analog conversion module electrically connecting the output end of the first multiplex module and the control module, according to the first The clock signal outputted by the multiplex module generates a first test signal with the data signal read by the control module, and outputs the first test signal to the first device under test. The automatic test device of claim 1, wherein the first digital analog conversion module is based on at least the clock signals when the automatic test device receives a feedback signal output by the first device under test The feedback signal is sampled and a test result signal is generated accordingly. The automatic test device of claim 2, wherein the automatic test device further comprises: a second multiplex module electrically connected to the control module for receiving the The clock signal is selected by one of the clock signals according to the control signal; and a second digital analog conversion module is electrically connected to the output end of the second multiplex module and the control mode And the second digital analog conversion module is configured according to the automatic test device receiving the feedback signal output by the first device under test and causing the first digital analog conversion module to sample the feedback signal. The clock signal outputted by the second multiplex module generates a second test signal with the data signal read by the control module, and outputs the second test signal to a second device under test. The automatic test device of claim 3, wherein the automatic test device further includes a switch module electrically connected to the control module, the first digital analog conversion module and the second digital analogy Between the conversion modules, the switching module is configured to selectively turn on a path between the storage module and the first digital analog conversion module or between the storage module and the second digital analog conversion module. path. The automatic test device of claim 1, wherein the automatic test device further comprises a clock generation module, wherein the clock generation module is electrically connected to the first multiplex module, and the clock generation module is configured to provide These clock signals. The automatic test device of claim 1, wherein the storage module is a single memory, the single memory has a plurality of memory blocks, and each of the memory blocks stores one of the data signals. An automatic test device control method for testing with an automatic test device a first device under test, the automatic test device control method includes: receiving a plurality of clock signals having different frequencies, and selecting one of the clock signals; selectively reading the automatic test device One of the plurality of data signals; and generating a first test signal according to the selected clock signal and the read data signal, and outputting the first test signal to the first device under test. The automatic test device control method of claim 7, wherein the automatic test device receives at least one feedback signal output by the first device under test, the automatic test device is further based on at least one of the clock signals The feedback signal is sampled and a test result signal is generated accordingly. The automatic test device control method of claim 8, wherein the step of sampling the feedback signal by the automatic test device receiving the feedback signal output by the first device under test further comprises: The clock signal generates a second test signal with the read data signal, and outputs the second test signal to a second device under test. The automatic test device control method of claim 7, wherein the automatic test device has a single memory, the single memory has a plurality of memory blocks, and each of the memory blocks stores one of the data signals. .