Dual test roles

[An exclusive interview with a test engineer]

Martin Rowe -- Test & Measurement World, 9/1/2005

Dave Olson is a product and test engineering manager at Philips Semiconductors (Tempe, AZ). He divides his time between evaluating new products, developing hardware and software for offshore production, and managing the engineers in his group.

He also was instrumental in developing software that lets engineers reuse instrument settings and drivers in numerous tests. (For a description of the application, see "Save settings, save time," Test & Measurement World, April 2003.)

T&MW: What products do you test?

Olson: All of the devices we test use the I²C bus. Products range from multiplexers to LED blinkers. My most recent product was a switch for the I²C bus.

T&MW: What tasks do you perform as a product engineer?

Olson: As a product engineer, I check the guaranteed specs of each device against its data sheet. I must make measurements such as propagation delay over many parts, temperatures, and power-supply voltages. Each evaluation, therefore, requires tens of thousands of measurements.

T&MW: Do you perform your bench testing manually or with automated equipment?

Olson: We take 90% of our data by running test equipment under computer control. I've developed a LabView application called "AcBench" that lets engineers choose which instrument to use, which instrument settings to use, which measurements to make, and which pins to make the measurement on.

T&MW: Do you have benches dedicated to component evaluations?

Olson: We have seven nearly identical benches, and we're working on an eighth. They have an identical pulse generator and one or two models of oscilloscope. They all have the same temperature controllers and power supplies, too. The more uniform I can keep the benches, the better off I am. If I need a new scope because of needed bandwidth, I can use the scope as soon as it arrives. With a new scope model I have to take time away from evaluating parts because I usually need to write a new instrument driver.

T&MW: What tasks do you perform as a test engineer?

Olson: When I receive a part for production test, I already know which purchased ATE system we'll use. I get a schedule for the start of production and I must have the ATE system ready before that date. Prior to receiving a new part, I have its specifications and can start developing a load board. I must work with the people at the test site, usually in Thailand or in the Philippines, to make sure that they have the proper IC handler for my package, the tester that we chose, and the custom hardware and software that I developed in my lab. I send the test fixture, software, and first parts to the production facility where all tests should work as they did in my lab.

Each engineer in my group has training in programming one or more ATE systems. For example, I support a Credence system. I needed a week of training where I learned the specs, ratings, and limitations of each instrument in the system. I also learned to program it in C.

T&MW: What are the greatest challenges you face today?

Olson: Time and distance, because we have to work with an overseas test floor. Shipping of parts takes days, and you don't get a response to e-mails on the same day.