CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a national entry of PCT Application No. PCT/KR2018/006471 filed on Jun. 7, 2018, which claims priority to and the benefit of Korean Application No. 10-2017-0077892 filed Jun. 20, 2017, in the Korean Patent Office, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to a measuring method of testing a device under test (DUT) having a plurality of terminals, and more particularly, to a tool for testing functions and performance of various electronic devices, such as electronic devices, semiconductor devices, circuit modules, circuit boards, and the like, having electronic circuits, and to a method of assisting a test in software by a processor, in order to reduce unit costs, as compared with the conventional tool which is operated by having expensive various hardware, and a device using the same.

BACKGROUND ART

A measuring device is operated by a combination of a microcontroller (or a microprocessor) for instructing preparation of a test for a device under test (DUT) and execution of a test program and several modules (or test units) for actually performing the test.

FIG. 1is a conceptual block diagram illustrating the conventional exemplary measuring device in order to test a DUT, particularly, a measuring device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,028,439.

According to the conventional measuring tool, the measuring device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,028,439 includes physical measuring devices such as a microcontroller110(microprocessor), a pattern generator120(PAT GEN.) for generating a test pattern, a leakage current test unit125(LCTU) for measuring a leakage current, a power supply180(device power supply) for supplying a voltage to a DUT, a period generator (not shown) (Period Gen.) for generating a clock, and the like.

In such a measuring tool, the microcontroller110is responsible for a test instruction and control, and a test is performed by the expensive physical measuring devices. This increases a volume of the measuring device such that there is a disadvantage of increasing a manufacturing cost.

As another example of a measuring device for supplementing such a disadvantage, a measuring device of National Instruments has a configuration as shown inFIG. 2. The measuring device has a personal computer (PC) separate from a digital tester performing a test and selectively uses a method of comparing an output signal of a DUT measured by the digital tester with an expected value using application software which is executed on the PC.

However, owing to a delay time in a process in which the digital tester transmits test data to the PC and stores the test data in a memory, a delay time in a process in which application software reads the stored data and performs data comparison, and a delay time due to execution of the application software, the above method has a problem in that comparing and analyzing test results in real time is difficult and thus the above method is not suitable for a high-speed test. Thus, using a separate physical data comparator device for real-time data comparison is recommended.

Further, in the example of the measuring device of National Instruments, the tool replacing a physical test unit using the application software is limited to the data comparison so that the above method alone has a limitation in miniaturization of the measuring device and reduction of a manufacturing cost thereof.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

Technical Problem

The present invention is directed to providing a new measuring tool which avoids a conventional measuring method having and using a separate physical tool for measuring, comparing, and analyzing pattern generation, a leakage current, an analog signal, and the like, and in which a microprocessor is in connection with a pattern generation task and a real-time data conversion and analysis task in real time, thereby replacing the use of physical measuring modules such as a pattern generator, a leakage current test device, and an analog signal processing device.

The present invention is also directed to providing a measuring tool which is capable of collecting and examining instruction data output from a microprocessor, test data generated during a test process, a final determination result, analysis data, and the like in real time. In other words, the present invention is also directed to providing a tool for allowing a user to analyze a test process and a result thereof at any time even when a test is underway or even after the test is terminated such that, when malfunction occurs in a test target, a tool for assisting a cause analysis on the malfunction and/or close examination on a level of the result is provided.

Solution to Problem

The characteristic constitution of the present invention for achieving the above-described objectives of the present invention and realizing the characteristic effects thereof, which will be described below, is as follows.

One aspect of the present invention provides a processor-based measuring method of testing a device under test (DUT) having a plurality of terminals, which includes (a) performing, by a processor, (i) a process of acquiring a power setting signal and a switch setting signal and (ii) a process of providing a test pattern table; (b) when the test pattern table is provided, transmitting, by the processor, a test start signal to a bus controller such that the bus controller opens a bus; and (c) when the bus is opened, performing (i) a process in which the processor performs a test on a DUT by putting the test pattern table, the power setting signal, and the switch setting signal on the bus together with a test order number to be respectively transmitted to a tester channel, a switch controller, and a power supply such that the tester channel applies a pattern signal according to the test pattern table to the DUT, the power supply applies a power supply voltage according to the power setting signal to the DUT, and the switch controller controls the switch interposed between the tester channel and the DUT according to the switch setting signal.

Another aspect of the present invention provides a processor-based measuring method of testing a device under test (DUT) having a plurality of terminals, which includes (a) performing, by a processor, (i) a process of acquiring a power setting signal and a switch setting signal and (ii) a process of providing a test pattern table for a specific test; (b) when the test pattern table is provided, performing (i) a process in which the processor performs a specific test on a DUT by putting the test pattern table, the power setting signal, and the switch setting signal on a bus together with a test order number to be respectively transmitted to a tester channel, a switch controller, and a power supply such that the tester channel applies a pattern signal according to the test pattern table to the DUT, the power supply applies a power supply voltage according to the power setting signal to the DUT, and the switch controller controls the switch interposed between the tester channel and the DUT according to the switch setting signal; and (c) when test data is acquired from the DUT by the test, determining, by the processor, whether the DUT is non-defective or defective by comparing a test value, (i) which is the test data or (ii) which is calculated from the test data through a software module executed by the processor, with an expected value according to the specific test.

Here, operation (c) of the measuring method may preferably further include (c1), when a calculation through the software module is required so as to acquire the test value, calculating, by the processor, the test value through the software module from the test data and, when the calculation through the software module is not required, determining, by the processor, whether the DUT is non-defective or defective using the test data as the test value, and prior to operation (c1), operation (c) further includes (c0) starting, by the processor, repetition of operations (a) to (c) for another test different from the specific test.

Still another aspect of the present invention provides a processor-based measuring device for testing a device under test (DUT) having a plurality of terminals, which includes a processor configured to perform a process of acquiring a power setting signal and a switch setting signal and a process of providing a test pattern table and configured to generate a test start signal when the test pattern table is provided, a bus connected to the processor, a bus controller configured to open the bus when receiving the test start signal from the processor, at least one tester channel configured to apply a pattern signal according to the acquired test pattern table, which is put on the bus, to a DUT, a switch interposed between the at least one tester channel and the DUT, a power supply configured to apply a power supply voltage according to the acquired power setting signal, which is put on the bus, to the DUT, and a switch controller configured to control the switch according to the acquired switch setting signal which is put on the bus, wherein, when the bus is opened, the processor performs a test on the DUT by putting the test pattern table, the power setting signal, and the switch setting signal on the bus together with a test order number to be respectively transmitted to the at least one tester channel, the switch controller, and the power supply.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

In accordance with the present invention, a measuring method implemented in software that can replace a conventional measurement method with high hardware dependency is provided and thus occupation of hardware of the measuring device can be reduced in a measuring device such that there is an effect of reducing costs of miniaturization and manufacturing of the measuring device.

Further, in accordance with the present invention, there is an effect which is capable of providing a function of analyzing and storing various signals and results, which are generated during a test process, in real time by utilizing performance of a processor and a communication unit of which performance has recently been significantly developed. Consequently, there is an advantage in that the function of the measuring device, which remains in a test in the related art, can extend to a real-time data analysis area.

