Method and apparatus for switching tester resources
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A probe card assembly comprising:
- a mounting structure by which said probe card assembly can be attached to and detached from a prober;
an electrical interface comprising N electrical connections configured to make connections with N communications channels from a tester;
a plurality of M probes secured to said mounting structure and further disposed in a pattern that corresponds to a pattern of contact terminals of a plurality of electronic devices to be tested, wherein M is greater than N;
a plurality of electrical connections directly connecting first ones of the plurality of M probes to the electrical interface wherein each one of the electrical connections connects one of the first ones of the plurality of M probes to one of the electrical connections of the interface; and
a plurality of switches selectively connecting second ones of the plurality of M probes to the electrical interface wherein ones of the switches connect selectively one of a first set of the second ones of the plurality of M probes and a second set of the second ones of the plurality of M probes to a set of the electrical connections of the interface such that only one of the first set or the second set is connected to the set of the electrical connections of the interface at a time,wherein the first set of the second ones of the plurality of M probes are disposed in the pattern of the M probes to correspond to contact terminals of a first one of the electronic devices, and the second set of the second ones of the plurality of M probes are disposed in the pattern of the M probes to correspond to contact terminals of a second one of the electronic devices.
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Abstract
A contactor device comprising a plurality of probes disposed to contact ones of the electronic devices can be electrically connected to a source of test signals. A switch can be activated electrically connecting a connection to the source of test signals to a selected one of a first group of electrically connected ones of the probes disposed to contact a first set of a plurality of the electronic devices or a second group of electrically connected ones of the probes disposed to contact a second set of a plurality of the electronic devices.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A probe card assembly comprising:
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a mounting structure by which said probe card assembly can be attached to and detached from a prober; an electrical interface comprising N electrical connections configured to make connections with N communications channels from a tester; a plurality of M probes secured to said mounting structure and further disposed in a pattern that corresponds to a pattern of contact terminals of a plurality of electronic devices to be tested, wherein M is greater than N; a plurality of electrical connections directly connecting first ones of the plurality of M probes to the electrical interface wherein each one of the electrical connections connects one of the first ones of the plurality of M probes to one of the electrical connections of the interface; and a plurality of switches selectively connecting second ones of the plurality of M probes to the electrical interface wherein ones of the switches connect selectively one of a first set of the second ones of the plurality of M probes and a second set of the second ones of the plurality of M probes to a set of the electrical connections of the interface such that only one of the first set or the second set is connected to the set of the electrical connections of the interface at a time, wherein the first set of the second ones of the plurality of M probes are disposed in the pattern of the M probes to correspond to contact terminals of a first one of the electronic devices, and the second set of the second ones of the plurality of M probes are disposed in the pattern of the M probes to correspond to contact terminals of a second one of the electronic devices. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A probe card assembly comprising:
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a mounting structure by which said probe card assembly can be attached to and detached from a prober; an electrical interface comprising N electrical connections configured to make connections with N communications channels from a tester; a wiring substrate coupled to the mounting structure and electrically connected to the electrical interface; a plurality of M probes disposed on the wiring substrate and arranged to contact terminals of a plurality of electronic devices to be tested, wherein M is greater than N; a plurality of electrical connections directly connecting first ones of the plurality of M probes to the electrical interface wherein each one of the electrical connections connects one of the first ones of the plurality of M probes to one of the electrical connections of the interface; a plurality of switches configured to selectively connect second ones of the plurality of M probes to the electrical interface wherein the N electrical connections are sufficient to test X of the electronic devices, and the M probes are sufficient to contact Y of the electronic devices, wherein Y is greater than X; and the probe card assembly further comprising a sufficient number of switches to selectively connect one of a first group and a second group of the second ones of the plurality of M probes to the electrical interface while disconnecting the other of the first group and the second group from the electrical interface, wherein each of the first group of probes and the second group of probes comprises at least a number of probes sufficient to contact Y minus X electronic devices; such that said electronic devices are capable of being tested by bringing the electronic devices into contact with said probes. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A probe card assembly comprising:
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a mounting structure by which said probe card assembly can be attached to and detached from a prober; an electrical interface comprising N electrical connections configured to make connections with N communications channels from a tester; a plurality of M probes secured to said mounting structure and further disposed to contact terminals of a plurality of electronic devices to be tested, wherein M is greater than N; a plurality of electrical connections directly connecting first ones of the plurality of M probes to the electrical interface wherein each one of the electrical connections connects one of the first ones of the plurality of M probes to one of the electrical connections of the interface; and a plurality of switches selectively connecting second ones of the plurality of M probes to the electrical interface wherein each one of the switches connects selectively one of a pair of the second ones of the plurality of M probes to one of the electrical connections of the interface, the probe card assembly further comprising a sufficient number of the switches to selectively connect one of a first group and a second group of the probes to the electrical interface while disconnecting the other of the first group and the second group from the electrical interface, wherein each of the first group of probes and the second group of probes comprises at least a number of probes sufficient to contact Y minus X electronic devices, wherein the plurality of electrical connections directly connecting the first ones of the plurality of M probes to the electrical interface connect to a third group of the probes different than the first group and the second group.
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Specification