JP3323115B2 - Semiconductor IC test equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention mounts a device under test on a test head via a performance board for transmitting a signal required for a test, and applies a signal to the device under test to evaluate its operation. The present invention relates to a semiconductor IC test apparatus having an evaluation function and a self-diagnosis function for automatically determining whether or not accuracy is normal in response to an operation signal of a peripheral device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art ICs,
As the degree of integration and the scale of LSIs, VLSIs, and ULSIs and devices increase, the characteristics of these devices are also tested by using a tester suitable for the type of device. As typical examples, an LSI tester for a memory, a tester for a linear IC, an LSI tester using an EB (Electron Beam) as a probe, an LSI tester using a laser beam as a probe, and the like are used. In this specification, these are collectively referred to as a semiconductor IC test apparatus.
Some of these semiconductor IC test apparatuses are provided with an evaluation function in accordance with an operation signal of a peripheral device and a self-diagnosis function for automatically determining whether or not accuracy is normal by using its own function.

The self-diagnosis function is executed periodically or when a user reports that a malfunction has occurred. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the procedure of this type of self-diagnosis. That is, if it is determined in step 101 that the user has contacted the user for a failure, the self-diagnosis is started in step 102. Self-diagnosis requires a few minutes or tens of minutes in a simple self-diagnosis (hereinafter referred to as a simple self-diagnosis), and is a full-scale self-diagnosis (hereinafter simply referred to as a self-diagnosis) in which detailed points are taken. Is long and takes about an hour. Since the required time varies somewhat depending on the type of the apparatus, it is determined in step 103 whether or not the self-diagnosis has been completed after a predetermined time has elapsed. If it is determined that the self-diagnosis has not been completed, it is regarded as a failure and the repair operation is started in step 104, and thereafter, the processing of steps 102 to 104 is repeated. Step 104
If it is determined that the self-diagnosis has been completed in Step 10,
In step 5, the semiconductor IC test equipment displays on the display device that there is no failure or prints out the data using a line printer. When the self-diagnosis is to be performed periodically, the peripheral device such as a keyboard is operated about once a week instead of the process of step 101, and the processes of step 102 and thereafter are performed.

In the above-described conventional semiconductor IC test apparatus, it is difficult to detect a failure at an early stage, and when a self-diagnosis is performed periodically, an administrator needs an operation for that.
When self-diagnosis is performed by reporting a failure, there is a problem in that valuable time of the user is wasted until the user realizes that the failure has occurred during use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor IC test apparatus capable of early detection of a failure and preventing a manager or a user from wasting time. The purpose is to provide.

[0006]

The invention according to claim 1 is
A device including a device to be measured mounted on a test head via a performance board for transmitting a signal necessary for a test, an evaluation unit for evaluating the device to be measured, and an apparatus including the test head and the evaluation unit in response to an operation signal of a peripheral device In a semiconductor IC test apparatus having self-diagnosis means for automatically determining whether or not the overall function and accuracy are normal by using its own function, it is determined whether or not a performance board is mounted on a test head. Board mounting determining means, device operation determining means for determining whether the non-operation state of the peripheral device has continued for a predetermined time or more, and a performance board attached to the test head based on output signals from the board mounting determining means and device operation determining means. When the device is not installed and the non-operation state of the peripheral device continues for a predetermined time or more, the self-diagnosis means is activated independently of the command of the peripheral device. It is characterized in that it comprises a self-diagnosis command means to execute the self-diagnosis, a and.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an evaluation means for mounting a device under test on a test head via a performance board for transmitting a signal required for a test, and evaluating the device under test, and an operation signal of a peripheral device. And a self-diagnosis means for automatically determining whether or not the accuracy is normal using its own function, in accordance with the test head and the evaluation means. Board mounting determining means for determining whether or not a performance board is mounted; device operating determining means for determining whether a non-operation state of a peripheral device has continued for a predetermined time or more; board mounting determining means and device operation determining means When the performance board is not attached to the test head based on the output signal of The vessels of the command is characterized in that it comprises a simple self-diagnosis command means for executing the simple self-diagnosis with respect to the self-diagnosis means independently of.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the semiconductor IC test apparatus according to the first or second aspect, the board mounting determining means includes a movable portion protruding from a mounting surface of the performance board of the test head. It is characterized by comprising one or a plurality of switches which are pushed down to the mounting surface to operate.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on preferred embodiments. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a device under test 1 is mounted on a test main unit 10 via a performance board 2, and a peripheral device 3 including a keyboard is connected to the test main unit 10. The test main body 10 includes a test head 11, an evaluation unit 12, a self-diagnosis unit 1,
3. It comprises a board mounting determining means 14, a device operation determining means 15, and a self-diagnosis instructing means 16.

The test head 11 mounts the device under test 1 via the performance board 2, and supplies power to be applied to the device under test 1, output units such as a timing generator and a pattern generator, and device outputs. The evaluation unit 12 is a unit that evaluates the device under test 1. In this case, the evaluation means 12 operates according to a command from the peripheral device 3. Generally, the peripheral device 3 includes a keyboard, a floppy disk, a line printer, a DAT
(Digital Audio Tape) or the like is used, and any of these can input commands for evaluation of a device to be measured, self-diagnosis, and simple self-diagnosis.

On the other hand, the self-diagnosis means 13 automatically determines whether or not the function and accuracy of the entire apparatus including the test head 11 and the evaluation means 12 are normal according to a self-diagnosis command of the peripheral device 3. . In the conventional apparatus, the self-diagnosis unit 13 is operated by operating the peripheral device 3 periodically or when there is a notification of a failure. In the present embodiment, however, the nighttime operation is performed independently of the operation of the peripheral device 3. And the like, and a function of executing a self-diagnosis by effectively utilizing the idle time.

Therefore, a board mounting determining means 14 for determining whether or not the performance board 2 is mounted on the test head 11 and a device for determining whether or not the time during which no signal is input from the peripheral device 3 exceeds a predetermined value. Motion determination means 15
When the performance board 2 is not mounted on the test head 11 and the non-operation state of the peripheral device 3 continues for a predetermined time or more based on the outputs of these two discriminating means, independent of the instruction of the peripheral device 3 A self-diagnosis instructing means for causing the self-diagnosis means to execute a self-diagnosis.

Incidentally, the device operation determining means 15 passes a signal from the pulse generating circuit 151 for generating a pulse at a predetermined frequency and a signal from the pulse generating circuit 151 when the peripheral device 3 is not operated.
An analog switch 152 that cuts off a signal from the pulse generation circuit 151 when the peripheral device 3 is operated, and a wait time determination for outputting a signal for instructing self-diagnosis when a predetermined number of pulses continuously arrive via the analog switch 152. And a circuit 153.

FIGS. 2 and 3 are perspective views showing the detailed structure of the board mounting determining means 14 and the operating state thereof. Here, the performance board 2 is mounted on the test head 11. Board mounting discrimination switches 14A to 14D are provided at four corners of the mounting portion of the performance board 2. Paying attention to the board mounting determination switch 14A among these board mounting determination switches, when the performance board 2 is lifted, as shown in FIG. 3 (a), the movable portion projects to the mounting surface of the performance board 2, and When the performance board 2 is attached to
(B) As shown in FIG.
Is used. FIG.
4 is a circuit diagram showing a detailed configuration of the device operation determining means 15. FIG. Here, the pulse generation circuit 151 is turned on and off in accordance with the operation signal of the peripheral device 3 and the analog switch 15 is controlled.
2, a waiting time determination circuit 153 is connected.

The operation of the first embodiment configured as described above will be described below. First, when a test of a semiconductor IC is performed, the device under test 1 is mounted on the test head 11 via the performance board 2. And
The user operates, for example, a keyboard as the peripheral device 3 and gives an evaluation command to the evaluation means 12. As a result, the evaluation means 12 operates the test head 11 to apply a test signal to the device under test 1 and to
And evaluates the output signal.

Next, when the user actively performs the self-diagnosis or the simple self-diagnosis at an arbitrary time, the performance board 2 as well as the device under test 1 is removed from the test head 11. Then, when the peripheral device 3 is operated to give a self-diagnosis command or a simple self-diagnosis command to the self-diagnosis unit 13, the self-diagnosis unit 13 starts self-diagnosis, and the entire device including the test head 11 and the evaluation unit 12 Diagnosis, that is, whether or not the function and accuracy of each unit is normal.

Next, at night or the like, when the performance board 2 is not mounted on the test head 11 and the peripheral device 3 is not operated for a predetermined time or longer, the board mounting determination switch 14 outputs a signal enabling self-diagnosis. It is added to the self-diagnosis command means 16. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5A, the pulse generation circuit 151 constituting the device operation determination means 15 generates a pulse of a predetermined frequency, for example, 50 Hz (or 60 Hz), and applies it to the analog switch 152. When the peripheral device 3 is not operated, the non-input signal of "H" is output as shown in FIG. 5B, and the analog switch 152 is turned on in response to this. The waiting time determination circuit 153 counts the number of pulses continuously sent, and
As shown in (c), when the count reaches a predetermined number, for example, when it reaches a number corresponding to one hour, a self-diagnosis start command is added to the self-diagnosis command means 16. The self-diagnosis command means 16 operates the self-diagnosis means 13 in response to a self-diagnosis start command from the device operation determination means 15 on condition that a self-diagnosis executable signal is added from the board mounting determination means 14. As a result, self-diagnosis is automatically performed by effectively utilizing the time during which the factory has stopped operating, such as at night.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the board mounting discrimination switch 14, the device operation discrimination means 15 and the self-diagnosis command means 16 for executing the above-mentioned self-diagnosis. In the figure, in the first step 111, it is determined whether or not the performance board 2 is mounted on the test head 11,
Only when it is determined that the peripheral device 3 is not mounted, it is determined in step 112 whether the peripheral device 3 is not moving. And
If it is determined that it has not moved, it is determined in step 113 whether a predetermined waiting time has elapsed. Here, if it is determined that the predetermined waiting time has elapsed, step 114
Perform "setup", that is, "prepare for execution of self-diagnosis" in step 115, if the predetermined waiting time has not elapsed.
After "setup release", that is, "release of self-diagnosis execution preparation", the process returns to step 113 again. If "setup", that is, "self-diagnosis execution standard" is performed in step 114, the self-diagnosis is executed in step 116, and it is determined in step 117 whether or not all the steps of the self-diagnosis are completed. If not, the processing of steps 116 and 117 is repeated, and a series of processing ends when the processing is completed.

Thus, according to the present embodiment, the performance board 2 is not mounted on the test head 11 and
When the non-operation state of the peripheral device 3 continues for a predetermined time or more,
Since the self-diagnosis unit 13 executes the self-diagnosis independently of the command from the peripheral device 3, it is possible to detect a failure early and prevent a manager or a user from wasting time.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the second embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 7, FIG. 1 shows the first embodiment.
Elements having the same or the same functions as those described above are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted. Here, FIG. 1 is different from FIG. 1 in that the simple self-diagnosis instruction means 16A outputs a simple self-diagnosis instruction to the self-diagnosis means 13 and a short wait time determination circuit 153A corresponding to the simple self-diagnosis is provided. The configuration is different.

As described above, by operating the peripheral device 3, it is possible to selectively input a self-diagnosis command and a simple self-diagnosis command to the self-diagnosis unit 13 at any time. on the other hand,
In the first embodiment described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6, the self-diagnosis is automatically executed when the actual test is stopped for a relatively long time, such as at night. The second embodiment shown in FIG. 7 automatically executes a simple self-diagnosis when there is a relatively short free time. Therefore, when the waiting time determination circuit 153A outputs a simple self-diagnosis command in a time shorter than the waiting time determination circuit 153 shown in FIG. Command to perform a simple self-diagnosis. This simple self-diagnosis is substantially the same as that described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 6, and it is presumed that the self-diagnosis used in the description can be sufficiently understood simply by replacing it with “simple self-diagnosis”. Therefore, the description is omitted.

Thus, according to the second embodiment, when the performance board 2 is not mounted on the test head 11 and the non-operation state of the peripheral device 3 continues for a predetermined time or more, the command of the peripheral device 3 Since the self-diagnosis unit 13 executes the simple self-diagnosis independently, it is possible to detect a failure at an early stage, and prevent a manager or a user from wasting time.

In the above embodiment, the board mounting discrimination switches 14A to 14D are installed at four corners of the mounting surface of the performance board 2 as the board mounting discriminating means 14 so as to determine whether or not the performance board 2 is mounted. Although it is determined whether the performance is in the middle or not, when the size and shape of the performance board 2 are different, the same operation can be performed by appropriately increasing or decreasing the number of board mounting determination switches.

The board mounting discrimination switches 14A to 14D
As the one used, the movable part comes and goes,
Alternatively, a proximity switch using capacitance, an optical switch using light passage or cutoff, or the like can be used.

[0025]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, whether or not the performance board is mounted on the test head is determined by the board mounting determining means, while the non-operation state of the peripheral device is maintained for a predetermined time. Whether or not the above has been continued is determined by the device operation determining means, and the self-diagnosis instruction means or the simple self-diagnosis instruction means is based on the output of these determination means, and the performance board is not mounted on the test head, and the peripheral device When the non-operation state continues for a predetermined time or more, the self-diagnosis unit performs self-diagnosis or simple self-diagnosis independently of a command from a peripheral device, so that failure can be detected early and management can be performed. This has the effect of preventing users or users from wasting time.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary perspective view showing a mounting example of a board mounting discrimination switch constituting the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an exemplary perspective view showing an operation state of the board mounting determination switch shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram showing a detailed configuration of a device operation determining unit constituting the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a time chart for explaining the operation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a specific processing procedure of an MCU that executes main functions of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining a self-diagnosis operation of a conventional semiconductor IC test apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Device under test 2 Performance board 3 Peripheral equipment 10 Test main body 11 Test head 12 Evaluation means 13 Self-diagnosis means 14 Board mounting discrimination means 14A-14D Board mounting discrimination switch 15 Equipment operation discrimination means 16 Self-diagnosis command means 16A Simple self-diagnosis Command means 151 Pulse generation circuit 152 Analog switch 153, 153A Wait time judgment circuit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G01R 31/26 G01R 31/28-31/3193 H01L 21/66

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A device to be measured is mounted on a test head via a performance board for transmitting a signal required for a test, an evaluation means for evaluating the device to be measured, and the test device according to an operation signal of a peripheral device. A semiconductor IC test apparatus comprising: a self-diagnosis unit that automatically determines whether or not the function of the entire apparatus including the head and the evaluation unit is normal or not by using its own function; Board mounting determining means for determining whether or not the device has been mounted; device operation determining means for determining whether the non-operation state of the peripheral device has continued for a predetermined time or more; the board mounting determining means and the device operation determining The performance board is not mounted on the test head and the non-operation state of the peripheral device is kept for a predetermined time or more based on the output signal of the means. When continued, the semiconductor IC test apparatus characterized by comprising a self-diagnosis command means to execute the self-diagnosis with respect to the self-diagnosis means independently of the command of the peripheral device. 2. A device to be measured is mounted on a test head via a performance board for transmitting a signal required for a test, an evaluation means for evaluating the device to be measured, and the test device according to an operation signal of a peripheral device. A semiconductor IC test apparatus comprising: a self-diagnosis unit that automatically determines whether or not the function of the entire apparatus including the head and the evaluation unit is normal or not by using its own function; Board mounting determining means for determining whether or not the device has been mounted; device operation determining means for determining whether the non-operation state of the peripheral device has continued for a predetermined time or more; the board mounting determining means and the device operation determining The performance board is not mounted on the test head and the non-operation state of the peripheral device is kept for a predetermined time or more based on the output signal of the means. When continued, the semiconductor IC tester being characterized in that and a simple self-diagnosis command means for executing the simple self-diagnosis with respect to the self-diagnosis means independently of the command of the peripheral device. 3. The board mounting judging means comprises one or a plurality of switches which have a movable portion protruding from a mounting surface of the test board of the test head and are pushed down to the mounting surface when the performance board is mounted. The semiconductor IC test apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: