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CN-121986270-A - System and method for testing equipment, and computer readable medium

CN121986270ACN 121986270 ACN121986270 ACN 121986270ACN-121986270-A

Abstract

The present invention relates to a system and method for testing equipment. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a corresponding computer readable medium. In particular, a system for testing equipment is disclosed, the system comprising a DUT interface (10) comprising a plurality of DUT ports (1, 8), a distribution matrix unit (20) having an input side configured to be connected to the plurality of DUT ports (1, 8) and an output side configured to be connected to one or more measurement units (M1, M2), and a test processor (30). The test processor (30) is configured to receive test setup data, control the allocation matrix unit (20) such that at least one of the plurality of DUT ports (1,..8) is connected to at least one of the measurement units (M1, M2) in accordance with the test setup data, and control one or more of the measurement units (M1, M2) to perform a respective measurement.

Inventors

  • Max Rottaker
  • J ö rg Walter Moore
  • DETLEF MILLER
  • CHARLES E. NELSEN
  • Peter Munda
  • Dirk Matushchak

Assignees

  • 爱德万测试株式会社

Dates

Publication Date
20260505
Application Date
20231006

Claims (19)

  1. 1. A system for testing equipment, the system comprising: -a DUT interface (10) comprising a plurality of DUT ports (1, a., 8); -a distribution matrix unit (20) having an input side configured to be connected to the plurality of DUT ports (1,..8) and an output side configured to be connected to one or more measurement units (M1, M2), and -A test processor (30), Wherein the test processor (30) is configured to: -receiving test setup data; -controlling the allocation matrix unit (20) such that at least one DUT port of the plurality of DUT ports (1,..8) is connected to at least one of the measurement units (M1, M2) in accordance with the test setting data, and -Controlling one or more of the measurement units (M1, M2) to perform the respective measurement.
  2. 2. The system according to claim 1, Wherein the distribution matrix unit (20) comprises at least one of switches (SW 21-SW26, SW31-SW 34), splitters (SPR 27, SPR 28), splitting switches (SPC 37, SPC 38), switchable amplifiers (AMP 1, AMP2, AMP 3).
  3. 3. The system according to claim 1 or 2, Wherein the distribution matrix unit (20) comprises a splitter (SPR 27, SPR 28) and a switchable amplifier (AMP 1) configured to provide an amplified signal to an input of the splitter (SPR 27, SPR 28).
  4. 4. The system according to claim 1 to 3, Wherein the distribution matrix unit (20) comprises a splitter (SPR 27, SPR 28) and for any output of the splitter (SPR 27, SPR 28) there is a switchable amplifier (AMP 2, AMP 3) configured to amplify the signal provided by the output of the splitter (SPR 27, SPR 28).
  5. 5. The system according to claim 1 to 4, Wherein the test processor (30) is configured to control the allocation matrix unit (20) according to a first test setting such that at least two DUT ports of the plurality of DUT ports (1,..8) are each connected to a respective one of at least two measurement units (M1, M2).
  6. 6. The system according to claim 1 to 5, Wherein the test processor (30) is configured to control the allocation matrix unit (20) according to a second test setting such that at least one DUT port of the plurality of DUT ports (1, 8) is simultaneously connected to at least two measurement units (M1, M2).
  7. 7. The system according to claim 1 to 6, Wherein the test processor (30) is configured to control the measurement units (M1, M2) when present such that the respective measurements of the measurement units (M1, M2) are performed simultaneously.
  8. 8. The system according to claim 1 to 7, Wherein the test processor (30) is configured to provide test results which are calculated in the presence of the measurement units (M1, M2) on the basis of the respective measurement results provided by the measurement units, in particular by calculating an average value and/or a cross-relationship.
  9. 9. The system according to any one of claim 1 to 8, Wherein the test setting data indicate configuration information, in particular calibration data, associated with at least one measurement unit (M1, M2), And wherein the test processor (30) is configured to control the at least one measurement unit (M1, M2) in accordance with the configuration information.
  10. 10. The system according to any one of claim 1 to 9, Wherein the test processor (30) comprises a memory in which a plurality of test settings are stored, and wherein the received test setting data comprises an identifier of one of the plurality of test settings stored in the memory.
  11. 11. The system according to any one of claim 1 to 10, Wherein the test processor (30) is configured to: -receiving respective measurement results from the one or more measurement units (M1, M2); -checking whether the test result and/or the corresponding measurement result meets at least one criterion; -selecting a second test setting based on the result of said checking; -controlling the allocation matrix unit (20) according to the second test setting, and -Controlling at least one of the one or more measurement units (M1, M2) to perform a respective second measurement.
  12. 12. The system according to any one of claim 1 to 11, Wherein the allocation matrix (20) is configurable to allow the following connections: a) At least two DUT ports of the plurality of DUT ports (1,..8) are connected to respective different outputs of the output side of the distribution matrix (20); b) One DUT port of the plurality of DUT ports (1,..8) is connected to at least two outputs of the distribution matrix (20) on the output side thereof.
  13. 13. A method for testing a device, the method comprising, In particular using a system according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the method comprises the steps of: -receiving test setup data indicating a mapping of at least one of the plurality of DUT ports (1,..8) to one or more measurement units (M1, M2); -controlling an allocation matrix unit (20) according to the test setup data, wherein the allocation matrix unit (20) has an input side and an output side, the input side being connected to the plurality of DUT ports (1, 8), the output side being connectable to the one or more measurement units (M1, M2), and -Providing an output to control the one or more measurement units (M1, M2) to perform the respective measurements.
  14. 14. The method according to claim 13, Wherein controlling the distribution matrix unit (20) comprises controlling at least one of switches (SW 21-SW26, SW31-SW 34), splitters (SPR 27, SPR 28), splitting switches (SPC 37, SPC 38) and switchable amplifiers (AMP 1, AMP2, AMP 3).
  15. 15. The method according to claim 13 or claim 14, Wherein at least two measuring units (M1, M2) are controlled such that the respective measurements of the measuring units (M1, M2) are performed simultaneously.
  16. 16. The method according to any one of claim 13 to 15, The method further comprises the steps of: -receiving respective measurement results from the one or more measurement units (M1, M2); -calculating an average value and/or a cross-relationship based on the respective measurement results; -providing a test result based on the average and/or cross-relationship.
  17. 17. The method according to any one of claim 13 to 16, The method further comprises configuring the one or more measurement units (M1, M2) according to configuration information indicated in the test setup data.
  18. 18. The method according to any one of claim 13 to 17, The method further comprises the steps of: -receiving respective measurement results from the one or more measurement units (M1, M2); -checking whether the test result and/or the corresponding measurement result meets at least one criterion; -selecting a second test setting based on the result of said checking; -controlling the allocation matrix unit (20) according to the second test setting, and -Controlling one or more measurement units (M1, M2) to perform a respective second measurement.
  19. 19. A computer readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the method according to any one of claims 13 to 18.

Description

System and method for testing equipment, and computer readable medium Technical Field The present invention relates to a system and a method for testing devices, in particular radio frequency devices, in particular high frequency devices. Furthermore, the present invention relates to a corresponding computer readable medium. Background In the testing of radio frequency devices, for example as part of quality control, some of the parameter margins to be tested are small and therefore require high accuracy measurements. However, even when testing is performed under laboratory conditions, it is often difficult to obtain high-precision measurements. For example, if a single device is tested using a single measurement unit, it is not possible to distinguish between defects in the signal provided by the Device Under Test (DUT) and defects caused by the measurement unit. In this context, it is known to provide signals of a device under test in parallel to a plurality of measurement units by using an external signal splitter. In this way, the accuracy of the measurement of a single device can be improved, however, at the cost of assigning multiple measurement units to a single device under test. On the other hand, for other types of radio frequency devices with lower quality standards, it is not necessary to test each device at the highest accuracy setting. In practice, the average accuracy may be sufficient to screen out defective devices. In this case, the efficiency of the test procedure is of paramount importance. Disclosure of Invention Against this background, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved system and a corresponding method for testing a device. In particular, the improved system should be adaptable to different test configurations. In particular, the improved system should provide a convenient interface for the user. The above object is solved by a system for testing equipment according to claim 1 and a method for testing equipment according to claim 10. Furthermore, the object is solved by a computer readable medium according to claim 16. In particular, this object is solved by a system for testing equipment, wherein the system comprises: -a DUT interface comprising a plurality of DUT ports; a distribution matrix unit having an input side configured to be connected to the plurality of DUT ports and an output side configured to be connected to one or more measurement units, and -A test processor for the purpose of testing the test board, The test processor is configured to perform the steps of: -receiving test setup data; -controlling the allocation matrix unit such that at least one of the plurality of DUT ports is connected to at least one of the measurement units according to test setup data, and -Controlling one or more of these measurement units to perform the respective measurement. One aspect of the present invention is that measurement units can be allocated to DUTs in a flexible manner. More particularly, by assigning matrix cells, each DUT port on the input side can be connected to one or more measurement cells on the output side, wherein various mappings can be implemented. In particular, a single DUT port may be connected with a single measurement unit (one-to-one mapping), or a single DUT port may be connected to multiple measurement units simultaneously (one-to-many mapping). Since DUT ports can be connected to one or more measurement units substantially independently of each other, a many-to-many mapping can be achieved as a whole. Since the DUT interface has multiple DUT ports, multiple DUTs can be connected to the test system simultaneously, thereby testing multiple DUTs in parallel. To configure the test system according to the desired test settings described above, the test processor is configured to receive test setting data. The test setup data may be provided to the test system as user input or by an external system. In the context of the present invention, a test setup specifies a (partial) mapping of Device Under Test (DUT) ports to one or more measurement units such that each DUT port is associated with any subset (including an empty set) of one or more measurement units, however, no measurement unit is associated with multiple DUT ports. The test setup data received by the test processor may include the test setup itself or may include an identifier of the test setup. In the latter case, the test processor may have an internal database that includes test settings associated with the corresponding identifiers. Furthermore, the test setup data may comprise calibration or configuration data for the measurement unit and/or at least one criterion for checking the test results. Alternatively, the additional information may be referenced in the test setup data only by an appropriate key, rather than being included in the test setup data. After controlling the allocation matrix unit in accordance with the received test setup data (i.e., the corresponding tes