CARRIER MODULE FOR ADAPTING NON-STANDARD INSTRUMENT CARDS TO TEST SYSTEMS

• US 20080157804A1
• Filed: 03/14/2008
• Published: 07/03/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 05/21/2004
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Advantest Corporation
• Original Assignee: Advantest Corporation
• Inventors: Getchell, James, KUSHNICK, Eric B., Furukawa, Yasuo, Kraus, Lawrence
• Application Number:
  US12/048,952
• Publication Number:
  US 20080157804A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 324/763
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/31907 Modular tester, e.g. controlling and coordinating instruments in a bus based architecture

Abstract

A carrier module that is able to adapt non-standard instrument cards to the architecture of a test system is disclosed. Instrument cards based on non-standard architectures may be combined on a single carrier module. The carrier module is then plugged into the test head of the test system. The carrier module provides circuitry, contained on a plug-in sub-module called an Application Interface Adapter (AIA), to interface between the instrument cards and the test head interface connector. Additionally, the AIA may also provide access from the instrument cards to ATE system calibration circuitry. The carrier module uses the standard data bus of the test system for housekeeping and control functions. A second bus provides the bus for the non-standard instrument cards. Software drivers provided with the instrument cards are encapsulated with an appropriate wrapper so that the cards run seamlessly in the software environment of the test system.

Claims

1. A carrier module for adapting one or more instrument cards to a test system, the one or more instrument cards being operable in accordance with a system bus that is non-standard with respect to the test system, the carrier module comprising:

a removable sub-module configured to operate in conjunction with particular instrument cards to be installed in the carrier module for enabling communications and providing an interface between the particular instrument cards and a device under test (DUT).

2. The carrier module as recited in claim 1, with the AIA further comprising:

clock distribution logic for providing clock and control signals to the particular instrument cards.

3. The carrier module as recited in claim 1, with the AIA further comprising:

a calibration bus and configurable calibration switches for routing signals from the particular instrument cards to test system calibration circuitry.

4. The carrier module as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

digital pin connections for receiving test signals from digital pins on digital modules within the test system;

DUT connections for sending test signals to the DUT; and

channel routing switches for selectively connecting the digital pin connections to the DUT connections and sending test signals from the digital pins on the digital modules to the DUT to perform testing.