Universal automated circuit board tester

• US 20040064288A1
• Filed: 09/30/2002
• Published: 04/01/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Repko, Thomas A., Joyce, Frank W., Toh, Teik Sean, Kreager, Douglas P., Gan, Say Cheong, Le, Chanh, Liew, Yoong Li
• Granted Patent: US 7,154,257 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 702/158
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/2808 Holding, conveying or contacting devices, e.g. test adapters, edge connectors, extender boards probe, multiprobe, probe manipulator or probe fixture G01R1/067

Abstract

An apparatus and method for automatically testing circuit boards, such as computer system boards and the like. The circuit board device under test (DUT) is loaded into an automated test apparatus (tester), which includes a mechanism for automatically connecting test electronics to various DUT circuitry and I/O ports via corresponding connectors on the DUT. A type of DUT is identified, and a corresponding set of tests are performed to verify the operation of the DUT. Appropriate power signals and sequencing are also applied to the DUT, as defined by it type. Data logging is performed to log the results of the testing. The apparatus includes replaceable probe/connector plates that are DUT-type specific and corresponding universal electronics and cabling to enable a variety of different board types to be tested with the same apparatus.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

an automated connector insertion mechanism to automatically insert a plurality of connectors into a circuit board comprising a device under test (DUT); and

test electronics, operatively coupled to the DUT via the plurality of connectors, having a communications interface to receive test control commands and to perform automated testing of the DUT in response thereto.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a frame in which each of the automated connector insertion mechanism and test electronics are housed.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the test electronics includes a universal power supply to supply at least one programmable input power signal to the DUT.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of probes operatively coupled to the automated connector insertion mechanism that may be used to automatically couple the test electronics to circuit elements on the DUT during the automated testing.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the test electronics includes a digital video monitoring unit to automatically test a video signal produced by the DUT during the automated testing.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the automated connector insertion mechanism may be employed to automatically insert memory devices into one or more corresponding connectors on the DUT.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the automated connector insertion mechanism may be employed to automatically insert a microprocessor into a corresponding connector on the DUT.

10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the automated connector insertion mechanism may be used to employ a plurality of replaceable probe/connector plates each having a plurality of probes and/or connector halves configured for a particular type of DUT.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, further comprising a replaceable probe/connector plate having a peripheral card extender that is operatively coupled to an expansion bus slot on the DUT during testing, said peripheral card extender enabling a peripheral card to be tested with the DUT.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the automated connector insertion mechanism may be employed to insert a plurality of connectors along at least two different insertion axes.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the automated connector insertion mechanism may be employed to insert a plurality of connectors along four different insertion axes.

14. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the automated connector insertion mechanism provides a connection interface to a computer system board having an ATX form-factor.

15. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the automated connector insertion mechanism includes a reconfigurable carrier plate to which a DUT is attached during testing.

2. The apparatus of claim 2, further comprising a host computer, linked in communication with the test electronics via the communications interface, to execute software to control automated testing of the DUT via issuance of test control commands to the test electronics.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, further comprising a scanner, linked in communication with the computer.

16. A method for testing a computer system board, comprising:

loading the computer system board into a test apparatus;

automatically coupling a power input to the circuit board via the test apparatus;

automatically performing a plurality of computer system board tests; and

storing results of the automatic testing.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

determining a type of the computer system board; and

automatically supplying the computer system board with a corresponding set of power inputs during the automatic testing operations.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising sequencing a plurality of power input signals in response to corresponding power command signals provided by the computer system board.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the plurality of system board tests include testing the computer system board for short circuits.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein the plurality of system board tests include testing a video subsystem of the computer system board.

21. The method of claim 16, further comprising automatically inserting one or more memory devices into corresponding connectors on the computer system board.

22. The method of claim 16, further comprising automatically inserting a microprocessor into a corresponding connector on the computer system board.

23. The method of claim 16, further comprising automatically operatively coupling a peripheral card to an expansion slot on the computer system board.

24. The method of claim 16, further comprising automatically connecting test electronics to at least input/output (I/O) port connector.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein said at least one I/O port connector comprises at least two I/O port connectors, each having a different connection axis.

26. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

determining a type of the computer system board; and

automatically performing a particular set of computer system board tests corresponding to the type of computer system board that is determined.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the type of computer system board is determined by performing the operations of:

storing data in a database relating respective serial numbers of a plurality of computer system boards with corresponding computer system board types;

scanning a serial number bar code on a given computer system board that is to be tested; and

determining the system board type of that computer system board via a lookup of the database using the serial number that was scanned.

29. The system of claim 18, further comprising data logging means for storing results of the automated DUT testing.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein the data logging means comprises a database hosted by a database server that is linked in communication with said at least one host computer.

28. A system comprising:

a plurality of test stations, each including;

an automated connector insertion mechanism to automatically insert a plurality of connectors into a respective circuit board comprising a device under test (DUT); and

test electronics, operatively coupled to the DUT via the plurality of connectors, having a communications interface to receive test control commands and to perform automated testing of the DUT in response thereto; and

at least one host computer, linked in communication with the test control electronics of the plurality of test stations via their respective communications interfaces, to execute software to control automated testing of a plurality of DUT'"'"'s via issuance of test control commands to the test control electronics of the plurality of test stations.