SHARING RESOURCES IN A SYSTEM FOR TESTING SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES
First Claim
1. A contactor device comprising:
- an electrical interface to a plurality of communications channels from a tester;
a plurality of electrically conductive probes disposed to contact electronic devices to be tested;
electrically conductive paths electrically connecting the electrical interface and ones of the probes, a first one of the electrical paths electrically connecting a first one of the communications channels to a first set of more than one of the probes; and
means for selecting fewer than all of the probes in the first set of probes through which to provide test signals from the first communication channel to at least one of the electronic devices.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Probes in a plurality of DUT probe groups can be connected in parallel to a single tester channel. In one aspect, digital potentiometers can be used to effectively switch the tester channel from a probe in one DUT probe group to a probe in another DUT probe group. In another aspect, switches in parallel with a resistor can accomplish such switching. In yet another aspect, a chip select terminal on each DUT can be used to effectively connect and disconnect internal DUT circuitry to the tester channel. Multiple DUT probe groups so connected can be used to create different patterns of DUT probe groups for testing different patterns of DUTs and thus facilitate sharing tester channels.
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Citations
40 Claims
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1. A contactor device comprising:
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an electrical interface to a plurality of communications channels from a tester; a plurality of electrically conductive probes disposed to contact electronic devices to be tested; electrically conductive paths electrically connecting the electrical interface and ones of the probes, a first one of the electrical paths electrically connecting a first one of the communications channels to a first set of more than one of the probes; and means for selecting fewer than all of the probes in the first set of probes through which to provide test signals from the first communication channel to at least one of the electronic devices. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. An apparatus for testing a plurality of semiconductor devices comprising:
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a chip select port on at least one of the devices that couples contacts on the device to internal circuits within the device in response to a first state on the port and that uncouples contacts on the device from the internal circuits in response to a second state on the port; a plurality of groups of test probes, each group of test probes configured to contact one of the devices; a tester having a plurality of groups of tester channels, each group of tester channels configured to correspond to one of the groups of test probes, wherein a number of the groups of tester channels is less than a number of the groups of test probes, and at least one of the groups of tester channels is connected to more than one of the groups of test probes via conductors disposed between the tester channels and the test probes; and a processor programmed to selectively apply the first and second states to the chip select port during testing of the devices. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method for testing at least a first and a second group of DUTs using a contactor device having a plurality of groups of test probes, the method comprising:
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connecting a group of tester channels to more than one of the groups of test probes via conductors disposed between the tester channels and the probes; bringing ones of the groups of test probes and contacts of the first group of DUTs into contact; asserting a first state at a chip select port on at least one of the DUTs in the first group of DUTs; testing ones of the first group of DUTs; bringing ones of the groups of test probes and contacts of the second group of DUTs into contact; asserting a second state at the chip select port on the at least one of the DUTs in the first group of DUTs; and testing ones of the second group of DUTs. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A method for testing at least a first and a second group of DUTs using a contactor device having a plurality of groups of test probes, the method comprising:
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connecting at least one of a group of tester channels to more than one group of test probes via conductors disposed between the tester channel and the probes; disposing variable resistive elements in at least some of the conductors; bringing ones of the groups of test probes and contacts of the first group of DUTs into contact; selectively setting a resistive state of at least one of the variable resistive elements to one of a first state or a second state, wherein in the first state, each variable resistive element effectively prevents test signals from passing through the variable resistive element, and in the second state, the variable resistive element allows test signals to pass through the variable resistive element. testing ones of the first group of DUTs; bringing ones of the groups of test probes and contacts of the second group of DUTs into contact; changing a state of at least one of the variable resistive elements after testing the first group of DUTs; and testing ones of the second group of DUTs. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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Specification