Testplan Concepts

• States
• Measurements
• Limits
• Inheritance - global defaults, section defaults
• Buttons (objects)
• Run time vs. Design time

Roos Instrument's ATE system architecture uses a novel approach for automating measurements that provide a number of capabilities bench equipment would struggle to achieve, particularly the speed at which all the various components coordinate with each other to make measurements. This is done by navigating a table of physical states to make the measurements specified in a test plan. The measurements are made with the most accurate settings possible and in the order that requires the least amount of changes necessary. Bad parts are quickly identified when they exceed a limit set for a particular measurement. Universal conditions can be set, shared, and changed in each test section. Specific measurements are made by using graphical buttons, similar to controlling a copy machine or other industrial equipment, instead of complex lines of software code.

1.  Testplan concepts

A.  Testplan is a sequence of state changes with measurements between each state.
B.  States are defined by the physical state of every instrument in the system, as well as the DUT
C.  The sequencing can be done by the testplan author (like typical systems) or optimized by the computer (RI approach)
D.  The tester itself knows more about changing states than the programmer does.
E.  States are usually separate and independent.  If not, the programmer needs to provide hints.

2.  State, Measure, and Calc button

A.  The RI software has buttons which represent all programming concepts.
B.  The four kinds of buttons.
1.  State buttons which define an instrument's state.
2.  Measure buttons which trigger a measurement.
3.  Calculation buttons which provide data flow and calculations.
4.  System buttons which provide hints to the system.
C.  State buttons do not imply order
D.  All states are set up, then the measure executed, then calculations performed.
E.  But the order of states, tests, or calculations is defined by the system

3.  Global states, Test sections, and Panels

A.  Testplans always have Global default states at the top.
B.  They can be overridden by Test Section default states.
C.  Test panels can override Test Section states.
D.  States are connected like a "tree".
E.  Test panel states are NOT affected by another test panel, only Sections and Globals

4.  Global states, Connect sequence, and Disconnect settings

A.  The Global states modify the tester to form a new "default" state
B.  Disconnect settings then modify the tester to insert/remove a DUT without harm.
C.  Connect sequence shows the order of the states, but values come from the test panels.
D.  Disconnect settings panel provides order and values.

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States


States are defined by buttons. States are inherited from the global and section defaults.

Measurements
Measurements are performed with values specified at the DUT, not at the source port. This means that the developer does not have to consider path lengths or impedance mismatches along the path.

Limits
Values outside of the lower and upper limits determines if the part passes or fails. They are defined by the measurement name.

Inheritance - global defaults, section defaults
The system state is defined by the global defaults, then section defaults, then by the buttons in a test panel.

Buttons (objects)
Each button represents a state.

Run time vs. Design time
The testplan is compiled at run time to include all the up to the minute calibration factors through each path to the DUT.