The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 18, 2003
Filed:
Apr. 26, 2000
Daniel Field, Northboro, MA (US);
EMC Corporation, Hopkinton, MA (US);
Abstract
The present invention is directed to techniques for obtaining an electrical characteristic of a circuit board assembly process which involves mounting a module to an installation location of a circuit board using the circuit board assembly process, and measuring leakage current of the test structure in response to an electrical signal (e.g., a voltage) applied to the installation location. One can then determine the surface insulation resistance (SIR) of the test structure based on the electrical signal and the leakage current in order to assess the suitability of the circuit board assembly process. One arrangement of the invention is directed to a system for obtaining an electrical characteristic of a circuit board assembly process. The system includes a test structure having (i) a circuit board having a module installation location and an interface location in electrical communication with the module installation location, and (ii) a module which is mounted to the circuit board at the module installation location using the circuit board assembly process. The system further includes a signal generator that couples to the interface location of the circuit board, and that applies an electrical signal to the module installation location of the circuit board through the interface location. Additionally, the system includes a detector that that couples to the interface location, and that measures leakage current of the test structure in response to the electrical signal. The leakage current is itself an obtained electrical characteristic of the circuit board assembly process. However, the leakage current and the electrical signal enable determination of surface insulation resistance of the test structure, as another electrical characteristic of the circuit board assembly process.