Flexible sideband support systems and methods

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11733290-B2
Application number	US-202117195384-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 8, 2021
Priority date	Mar 31, 2020
Publication date	Aug 22, 2023
Grant date	Aug 22, 2023

Abstract

Presented embodiments facilitate efficient and effective flexible implementation of different types of testing procedures in a test system. In one embodiment, a flexible sideband support system comprises a load board, testing electronics coupled to the load board, a controller coupled to the testing electronics. The load board is configured to couple with a plurality of devices under test (DUTs), wherein the load board includes in-band testing ports and sideband testing ports. The testing electronics is configured to test the plurality of DUTs, wherein a portion of testing electronics are organized in sideband resource groups. The controller is configured to direct testing of the DUTs, wherein the controller is coupled to the testing electronics and the controller directs selective allocation of the testing electronics in the sideband resource groups to various testing operations of the DUTs. In one exemplary implementation, the controller directs a portion of sideband testing of a plurality of DUTs concurrently.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A flexible sideband support system comprising:
a load board configured to couple with a plurality of devices under test (DUTs), wherein the load board comprises in-band testing ports and sideband testing ports;
testing electronics configured to test the plurality of DUTs, wherein a portion of the testing electronics are organized in sideband resource groups, and wherein the testing electronics are coupled to the load board; and
a controller configured to direct testing of the plurality of DUTs, wherein the controller is coupled to the testing electronics and the controller is coupled to direct selective allocation of the testing electronics in the sideband resource groups to various testing operations of the plurality of DUTs.

2. The flexible sideband support system of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further operable to direct a portion of sideband testing of the plurality of DUTs concurrently.

3. The flexible sideband support system of claim 1 , wherein the controller comprises a flexible firmware configuration that supports multiple protocols associated with sideband test operations.

4. The flexible sideband support system of claim 1 , wherein multiple resources are assigned to a specific one of the plurality of DUTs.

5. The flexible sideband support system of claim 1 , wherein a sideband resource group comprises sideband support for a GPIO protocol.

6. The flexible sideband support system of claim 1 , wherein a sideband resource group comprises sideband support for a UART protocol.

7. The flexible sideband support system of claim 1 , wherein a sideband resource group comprises sideband support for a I2C protocol.

8. The flexible sideband support system of claim 1 , wherein a sideband resource group comprises sideband support for a UART over I2C protocol.

9. The flexible sideband support system of claim 1 , wherein a sideband resource group comprises sideband support for a NVME-MI protocol.

10. A flexible sideband support method comprising:
coupling a plurality of devices under test (DUTs) to testing electronics, wherein the coupling comprises n-band testing ports and sideband testing ports;
configuring testing electronics to test the plurality of DUTs, wherein a portion of the testing electronics is organized in sideband resource groups; and
directing testing including selective allocation of the testing electronics in the sideband resource groups to various testing operations of the DUTs.

11. The flexible sideband support method of claim 10 , wherein the directing testing comprises directing a portion of sideband testing of a plurality of DUTs re concurrently.

12. The flexible sideband support method of claim 10 , wherein multiple resources are assigned to a specific one of the plurality of DUTs.

13. The flexible sideband support method of claim 10 , wherein a sideband resource group comprises sideband support for a UOI protocol.

14. The flexible sideband support method of claim 10 , wherein a sideband resource group comprises sideband support for an ACT protocol.

15. The flexible sideband support method of claim 10 , wherein a sideband resource group comprises sideband support for a SUSCLK protocol.

16. The flexible sideband support method of claim 10 , wherein a sideband resource group comprises sideband support for a GPIO protocol.

17. The flexible sideband support method of claim 10 , wherein a sideband resource group comprises sideband support for a NVME-MI protocol.

18. The flexible sideband support method of claim 10 , wherein a sideband resource group comprises sideband support for a UART protocol.

19. The flexible sideband support of method claim 10 , wherein a sideband resource group comprises sideband support for a I2C protocol.

20. The flexible sideband support method of claim 10 , wherein a sideband resource group comprises sideband support for a UART over I2C protocol.

Assignees

• Advantest Corp

Inventors

• Malisic Srdjan
• Yuan Chi
• Craighead Seth

Classifications

• G01R31/2863 Primary

  Contacting devices, e.g. sockets, burn-in boards or mounting fixtures (in general G01R1/04) · CPC title

• G01R31/2817

  Environmental-, stress-, or burn-in tests (of IC's G01R31/2855; of individual semiconductors G01R31/2642; of other circuits G01R31/2849) · CPC title

• G01R31/2818

  using test structures on, or modifications of, the card under test, made for the purpose of testing, e.g. additional components or connectors (G01R31/2805 takes precedence; printed circuits having, e.g. symbols, test patterns or visualisation means H05K1/0266) · CPC title

• G01R31/00 Primary

  Arrangements for testing electric properties; Arrangements for locating electric faults; Arrangements for electrical testing characterised by what is being tested not provided for elsewhere ({measuring superconductive properties G01R33/1238;} testing line transmission systems H04B3/46; testing or measuring semiconductors or solid state devices during manufacture {H10P74/00}) · CPC title

• G01R31/2868 Primary

  Complete testing stations; systems; procedures; software aspects · CPC title