Intel Corporation

Gregory P Chema

Sunil K Jain

A method of and an apparatus for designing a test environment providing reliable test signal integrity, and of evaluating performance of the test environment and an electronic device during testing of the electronic device. A virtual test environment is created emulating an actual test environment in which the electronic device is to be tested. A virtual calibration of the virtual test environment may be performed, to more closely emulate the actual test environment. A virtual device emulating the actual electronic device is implanted into the virtual test environment, and that virtual device is stimulated with an input test signal emulating the actual input signal that is applied to the actual electronic device in the actual test environment. The integrity of the input test signal and the resulting output signal is evaluated. Based on that evaluation an adjustment might be made to the virtual calibration of the virtual test environment and/or to the virtual device, or both, and the design of the actual device might be improved. The invention can be implemented on a properly programmed general purpose processing system or on a special purpose system.

Virtual test environment

A method of and an apparatus for designing a test environment and of evaluating performance of the test environment and an electronic device during testing of the electronic device. A virtual test environment is created emulating an actual test environment. A virtual device emulating the actual electronic device is implanted into the virtual test environment, and that virtual device is stimulated with an input test signal emulating the actual input signal applied to the actual electronic device in the actual test environment. The integrity of the input test signal and the resulting output signal is evaluated. An adjustment might be made to the virtual calibration of the virtual test environment and/or to the virtual device, or both, and the design of the actual device might be improved. The invention can be implemented on a properly programmed general purpose processing system or on a special purpose system.

Testing of a mixed signal electronic device, and evaluating of a test environment. A test driver applies an input test signal to the device. The response of the device is monitored on a differential monitoring device to obtain analog data and on a tester receiver to obtain digital data. The analog data and the digital data are processed, the processed data are compared and evaluated, and the device is evaluted. A virtual test environment is created emulating an actual test environment, and a virtual device emulating the actual device is created and is stimulated with an input test signal emulating an actual input signal. The response of the virtual device is monitored to obtain analog data and digital data. The analog data and the digital data are processed, the processed analog and digital data are compared and evaluated, and the virtual device is evaluated.

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El Dorado Hills, CA, United States of America

Gregory P Chema