Printed circuit board development cycle using probe location automation and bead probe technology
First Claim
1. A method for improving a printed circuit board (PCB) development cycle, comprising:
- executing a computerized test pad location algorithm to determine one or more test pad locations along one or more respective nets in a PCB design;
inserting one or more test pads into said PCB design at said one or more test pad locations to generate a modified PCB design.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Techniques for automating test pad insertion in a printed circuit board (PCB) design and fixture probes insertion in a PCB tester fixture are presented. A probe location algorithm predictably determines respective preferred probing locations from among respective sets of potential probing locations associated with a number of respective nets in a PCB design. Test pads, preferably in the form of bead probes, are added to the PCB design at the respective preferred probing locations along with, where feasible, one or more alternate probing locations chosen from among remaining ones of the respective sets of potential probing locations. During fixture design, nets with multiple test pads implemented in the PCB design are processed by the same probe location algorithm used during PCB design to determine the associated preferred probing location and any associated alternate probing locations for said respective nets. Fixture probes are preferably inserted in the PCB tester fixture design at respective preferred probing locations to exactly align with corresponding preferred test pads of a PCB implemented in accordance with the PCB design should the PCB be mounted in a printed circuit board tester fixture implemented in accordance with the PCB tester fixture design.
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Citations
38 Claims
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1. A method for improving a printed circuit board (PCB) development cycle, comprising:
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executing a computerized test pad location algorithm to determine one or more test pad locations along one or more respective nets in a PCB design;
inserting one or more test pads into said PCB design at said one or more test pad locations to generate a modified PCB design. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method for automatically inserting test pads into a PCB design, comprising:
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executing a computerized test pad location algorithm to determine one or more test pad locations along one or more respective nets in a PCB design;
inserting one or more test pads into said PCB design at said one or more test pad locations to generate a modified PCB design. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23)
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24. A computer readable storage medium tangibly embodying program instructions implementing a method for automatically inserting test pads into a PCB design, said method comprising the steps of:
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determining one or more test pad locations along one or more respective nets in said PCB design;
inserting one or more test pads into said PCB design at said one or more test pad locations to generate a modified PCB design. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26)
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27. An apparatus for automatically inserting test pads into a PCB design, comprising:
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a computerized test pad location function which determines one or more test pad locations along one or more respective nets in a PCB design;
a test pad insertion function which inserts one or more test pads into said PCB design at said one or more test pad locations to generate a modified PCB design. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29)
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30. A method for automatically inserting fixture probes into a PCB tester fixture design, comprising:
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extracting one or more test pad locations from a PCB design; and
executing a fixture probe location algorithm that operates to determine one or more fixture probe locations in said PCB tester fixture design based on said extracted one or more test pad locations such that if a PCB fabricated in accordance with said PCB design were mounted in a fixture fabricated with fixture probes inserted at said one or more fixture probe locations, respective tips of said inserted fixture probes would align with and contact one or more test pads of said PCB fabricated in accordance with said PCB design at said one or more test pad locations. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32)
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33. A computer readable storage medium tangibly embodying program instructions implementing a method for automatically inserting fixture probes into a PCB tester fixture design, said method comprising the steps of:
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extracting one or more test pad locations from a PCB design; and
executing a fixture probe location algorithm that operates to determine one or more fixture probe locations in said PCB tester fixture design based on said extracted one or more test pad locations such that if a PCB fabricated in accordance with said PCB design were mounted in a fixture fabricated with fixture probes inserted at said one or more fixture probe locations, respective tips of said inserted fixture probes would align with and contact one or more test pads of said PCB fabricated in accordance with said PCB design at said one or more test pad locations. - View Dependent Claims (34, 35)
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36. An apparatus for automatically inserting fixture probes into a PCB tester fixture design, comprising:
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a test pad location extraction function which extracts one or more test pad locations from a PCB design; and
a fixture probe location function which determines one or more fixture probe locations in said PCB tester fixture design based on said extracted one or more test pad locations such that if a PCB fabricated in accordance with said PCB design were mounted in a fixture fabricated with fixture probes inserted at said one or more fixture probe locations, respective tips of said inserted fixture probes would align with and contact one or more test pads of said PCB fabricated in accordance with said PCB design at said one or more test pad locations. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38)
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Specification