Electricity: measuring and testing – Fault detecting in electric circuits and of electric components – Of individual circuit component or element
Reexamination Certificate
2002-04-11
2004-03-30
Nguyen, Vinh P. (Department: 2829)
Electricity: measuring and testing
Fault detecting in electric circuits and of electric components
Of individual circuit component or element
C324S1540PB
Reexamination Certificate
active
06714034
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of integrated circuit testing, and more particularly, to a DUT (device under test) testing apparatus having a digital signal ground, which is connected to at least one inductive magnetic device to generate a new reference ground.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Semiconductor testing of ICs or chips is required at various stages during the fabrication process. Each IC has to be individually tested no matter it is in a wafer or is packaged to ensure that it functions as the intended. The demand for testing products is driven by two considerations of new chip designs and higher unit volumes. As chips become increasingly powerful and complicated, the need for high-speed and accurate testing becomes more and more important than ever.
A testing board is used to interface the test head to a device-under-test (DUT) socket. Typically, a number of DUTs may be disposed on the testing board at the same time.
FIG. 1
is a schematic diagram exemplarily showing the configuration of a prior art testing board. Typically, as shown in
FIG. 1
, a batch of DUTs mounted on the testing board share a common data ground, including a digital signal ground DG and analog signal ground AG.
However, one drawback of such configuration is that the DUT testing accuracy is reduced when the digital signal ground DG of a DUT is interfered due to noises, which further affect the analog signal ground AG. The interfered DUT affects another DUT since the digital data ground is shared with each other. Consequently, there is a need to provide an IC testing system capable of increasing the testing accuracy and reducing noise interferences among DUTs.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is a primary object of the present invention to provide an IC testing apparatus for accurately testing devices.
According to the claimed invention, the testing apparatus includes a testing board having at least one testing region and a plurality of signal grounds thereon, and at least one inductive magnetic device. A DUT (device under test) reference ground is created by connecting the inductive magnetic device with the signal grounds of the testing region.
It is to be understood that both the forgoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary, and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed. Other advantages and features of the invention will be apparent from the following description, drawings and claims.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4965865 (1990-10-01), Trenary
patent: 5304921 (1994-04-01), Cook et al.
patent: 5956567 (1999-09-01), Tomita
patent: 5967848 (1999-10-01), Johnson et al.
Nguyen Vinh P.
Rosenberg , Klein & Lee
Tang Minh N.
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