Development And Implementation Of Teradyne, The J750 Test Platform For Rf Chip-based Low-cost Test Solutions

There are increasingly demands for performance of high-volume automatic test equipment (ATE), with the constantly increased complexity and the diversity of chip functions. On the contrary, the testing cost has become a critical factor in the chip cost controlling. There are several well-used technologies to reduce the testing cost, such as test-time reduction, test-procedure optimization, parallel testing technology and the using of low-end ATE. In addition, design for test (DFT) is also an efficient method to achieve a low-cost testingFor the purpose of cost reduction, this thesis is to develop a low-cost RF device testing solution that combines the capability of testing high-precision radio frequency (RF) chips of the PXI with the merit of stability of the low-end ATE. More precisely, we integrate the ATE with the PXI through a store-s manner, which leads to a higher performance cost ratio, a more flexible expansibility, a shorter time to market and a higher testing precision, and thus becomes one of the most suitable solutions for low-cost testing.A comprehensive analysis on the possibility of combining the PXI with ATE is conducted in this paper, based on which, we implemented a testing platform integrating the Teradyne J750 with the NI5651, Aeroflex 3035 PXI instruments. To achieve an efficient communication between the J750 ATE and the external stores instruments, and thus finally to implement a RF chip testing solution, we further developed a package of testing program using the IG-XL testing software. The key contributions of this paper include choosing appropriate PXI instruments and developing high-performance testing program. To evaluate the proposed testing solutions, we conduct a mass production solution. Measurement results successfully demonstrate an efficient cost reduction.Specifically, we propose a practical, cost-efficiency, and commercially valuable ATE solutions for a RF chip that features simple testing vector and high input signal frequency. Meanwhile, the proposed solutions can balance the ATE production time, reduce the production pressure, and thus efficiently addressed the problem of tight time-to-market as well as the testing-time limitation.To the best of our knowledge, our work is for the first time to apply the PXI technology in mass production ATE testing. It is believed to have a promising potential for low-cost testing equipment implementation.