JP5071072B2 - Development support equipment and semiconductor test equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a development support apparatus that supports development of a program used in a measurement system and a semiconductor test apparatus including the apparatus.

  Various measurement systems that have been put into practical use in recent years are configured to operate according to programs and operate according to programs in order to achieve higher functionality, higher performance, and lower development costs. In general, a predetermined measurement is performed by the above method. For example, in a semiconductor test apparatus that measures a signal (electrical signal) output from a semiconductor device and tests the semiconductor device, a test for the semiconductor device is performed by performing an operation according to a test program created by a user. Done.

  Specifically, a test pattern or the like according to the content of the test program created by the user is generated inside the semiconductor test apparatus, and then a test signal corresponding to the test pattern is applied to the semiconductor device. Then, the signal obtained from the semiconductor device by applying the test signal is converted into a digital signal and stored in a memory, and the result obtained by performing predetermined arithmetic processing on the digital signal is used to determine whether the semiconductor device is good or bad. Is done.

  If there is an error in the program that controls the operation of the measurement system, the operation of the measurement system becomes unintended by the developer or the user, and a measurement result different from the measurement result that should originally be obtained is obtained. For this reason, in the development of a program for controlling the measurement system, the work of debugging the program is repeatedly performed while referring to the measurement result obtained by actually executing the program.

  For example, debugging of a test program used in a semiconductor test apparatus is performed using a debugger shown in FIG. 3 and a waveform display tool shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a simplified display screen of a conventional debugger used for debugging a test program, and FIG. 4 is a simplified display screen of a conventional waveform display tool for displaying a signal waveform output from a semiconductor device. FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 3, in a window W11 which is a display screen of the debugger, a display area R11 for displaying a test program created by the user, and a scroll bar SB11 for changing the display contents of the test program in the display area R11. And a desired position (row) of the test program can be displayed in the display region R11 by the user operating the scroll bar SB11. In addition, this debugger can set a breakpoint that pauses (pauses) the execution of the test program as required by the user. In the example shown in FIG. 3, a breakpoint is set at the 466th line of the test program.

  As shown in FIG. 4, a display region R12 for displaying a test result designated by the user is provided in a window W12 that is a display screen of the waveform display tool. In the example shown in FIG. 4, three test results designated by the user are displayed in the display area R12. In FIG. 4, the test result displayed in the display region R12 indicates the time change (waveform) of the voltage appearing at three different pins of the semiconductor device, and the horizontal axis indicates time (sampling number (pos)). Is set and the voltage is set on the vertical axis.

  When debugging a test program, the user first activates the debugger to set a breakpoint on a line in which a process that seems to be the cause of a failure is described or a line in the vicinity of the line and execute the test program. As a result, the test program is executed up to the breakpoint and automatically paused, so that the test result up to the breakpoint can be obtained. Next, the user activates the waveform display tool to display the test results and confirms the test results up to the breakpoint. The cause of the failure is analyzed by performing the above operations while modifying the contents of the test program as necessary.

For a conventional debugging method of a test program used in a semiconductor test apparatus, see, for example, Patent Document 1 below.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-167033

  By the way, in the above-described conventional debugging method, in order for the user to check the test result, first, the operation for executing the test program is performed on the debugger after setting the breakpoint described above, and then the test program It is necessary to perform an operation to instruct the waveform display tool about the test result to be displayed in a state where the execution is paused. In particular, at the initial stage of analysis, it is often difficult to narrow down the location where a problem occurs, and the user needs to repeat the above operation frequently.

  In addition, even after narrowing down the location of the problem and correcting the test program, it is necessary to repeat the same operation as the above operation in order to confirm whether or not the problem has been solved. As described above, conventionally, there are many operations that the user needs to perform in order to refer to the test result, so that it is not easy to use and the debugging efficiency is deteriorated.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a development support apparatus that can improve the user's usability and increase the debugging efficiency of a program, and a semiconductor test apparatus including the apparatus. To do.

In order to solve the above problems, a development support apparatus of the present invention provides a development support apparatus that supports development of a program used in a measurement system that performs predetermined measurement by performing an operation according to a predetermined program (P1). And editing the program in accordance with a user instruction, and displaying an array variable to be displayed of the contents of the array variables included in the program in accordance with the user instruction and the display of the array variable in the program Editing means (21) capable of setting the positions (S1 to S3) in the storage means (12), and variable display means for displaying the contents of the array variables obtained by the execution of the program as waveforms on individual windows ( 22) and the execution of the program is interrupted each time the execution position of the program reaches the display position set in the storage means. Control performs that, the execution control means (20) for notifying that interrupts the execution of the program, when the from the execution control unit to the effect that interrupts the execution of the program message is supplied, in the storage means reference to the set contents instructed array variables to be displayed on the variable display means, every time the contents of the variable display means thus the array variable is displayed, it should unsuspend a execution of the program Instructing means (23) for notifying the execution control means of the fact is provided.
According to the present invention, when setting of the array variable to be displayed in accordance with a user instruction and the display position of the array variable in the program is performed by the setting means, the execution position of the program is set to the display position set by the setting means. Every time, the execution of the program is automatically interrupted by the execution control means, and the contents of the array variables instructed by the instruction means with reference to the storage means are displayed as waveforms in individual windows. When the waveform is displayed by the variable display means, the instruction means notifies the execution control means that the suspension of execution should be released, and the execution of the suspended program is automatically resumed.
In the development support apparatus of the present invention, the storage means stores a first storage means (12a) for storing the setting contents of the editing means, and a second storage for storing the contents of the array variable displayed by the variable display means. Storage means (12b), and the storage contents of the first storage means and the storage contents of the second storage means are associated by a predetermined identifier.
Further, in the development support apparatus of the present invention, the execution control unit reads an identifier corresponding to a control situation from the identifier stored in the first storage unit, notifies the instruction unit, and the instruction unit The identifier notified from the execution control means is notified to the variable display means according to the setting contents related to the identifier read from the first storage means, and the variable display means is the identifier notified from the instruction means. The content of the array variable associated with is read from the second storage means and displayed.
The semiconductor test apparatus of the present invention applies the test signal according to the test program (P1) to the device under test (40) and processes the signal obtained from the device under test according to the test program. The semiconductor test apparatus (1) for testing a device includes the development support apparatus according to any one of the above that can support development of the test program as the predetermined program.

According to the present invention, every time the execution position of the program when the program is actually executed reaches the display position of the variable set in advance by the user's instruction, the execution control means automatically interrupts the execution of the program. The arrangement information indicated by the instruction means with reference to the storage means is displayed as a waveform in an individual window. When the waveform display is performed by the variable display means, the execution control means automatically resumes the execution of the interrupted program, so that the contents of the array variable can be set according to the setting contents set in advance without any special operation by the user. Is displayed as a waveform. For this reason, even when a plurality of variable display positions are set by the user, it is possible to reduce user operations required for debugging as compared to the conventional case, and to improve user convenience. There is.
As described above, according to the present invention, the user convenience is extremely high, and there is an effect that the debugging efficiency of the program can be dramatically improved.

  Hereinafter, a development support apparatus and a semiconductor test apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the following, the development support apparatus of the present embodiment applies a test signal according to the test program to the device under test, and processes the signal obtained from the device under test according to the test program, thereby testing the device under test. The aspect provided in the semiconductor test apparatus which performs is demonstrated.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of a semiconductor test apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the semiconductor test apparatus 1 of the present embodiment includes a test apparatus body 2 and a terminal apparatus 3, and when the terminal apparatus 3 gives an instruction to start a test, the test apparatus body 2 The DUT 40 is tested by applying a test signal to a test device (hereinafter referred to as DUT (Device Under Test)) 40 and determining pass / fail based on a signal output from the DUT 40. The DUT 40 is a semiconductor device such as a drive driver of an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) and a RAM (Random Access Memory).

The test apparatus body 2 generates a test signal according to the test program P1 created by the user and applies it to the DUT 40, and processes the signal obtained from the DUT 40 by applying the test signal according to the test program P1 (pass / fail). The DUT 40 is tested. The test apparatus main body 2 includes a CPU (central processing unit) 11, a RAM 12 (storage means) , a hard disk 13, and a communication unit 14. In FIG. 1, a configuration for generating test signals such as a pattern generator and a driver, and a configuration for processing a signal from the DUT 40 such as a comparator are not shown.

  The CPU 11 comprehensively controls the operation of the test apparatus main body 2 according to various programs stored in the hard disk 13. For example, an operating system (OS) capable of multitasking is mounted on the test apparatus main body 2, and an environment in which the CPU 11 can apparently execute a plurality of programs simultaneously is prepared. Specifically, the test program process 20 (execution control means) is executed when the CPU 11 reads the test program P1 stored in the hard disk 13, and thereby the test of the DUT 40 corresponding to the test program P1 is started.

  Further, when the CPU 11 reads the debugger program P11 stored in the hard disk 13, the test program debugger 21 (editing means) for editing the test program P1 created by the user is executed. Further, when the CPU 11 reads the display tool program P12 stored in the hard disk 13, the array variable display tool 22 (variable display means) for displaying the test result obtained by the test of the DUT 40 is executed.

  Here, when the test program process 20 or the array variable display tool 22 is executed, the interface program P13 is read from the hard disk 13, and various information is exchanged between the array variable display tool 22 and the test program process 20. The interface unit 23 (instruction means) for performing the above is executed. Details of the test program process 20, the test program debugger 21, the array variable display tool 22, and the interface unit 23 described above will be described later.

  The RAM 12 temporarily stores test results obtained by the test of the DUT 40 and various variable values used in processing performed by the CPU 11. The RAM 12 stores a variable display condition storage area 12a (first storage means) for storing various setting information set by the user by operating the test program debugger 21, and test results to be displayed by the array variable display tool 22. Display target variable storage area 12b (second storage means). 1 shows an example in which the variable display condition storage area 12a and the display target variable storage area 12b are provided in the RAM 12 for convenience of explanation, these areas may be provided in the hard disk 13. .

  The hard disk 13 stores various programs such as the above-described test program P1, the debugger program P11, the display tool program P12, and the interface program P13. The communication unit 14 communicates with the terminal device 3 to pass various instructions transmitted from, for example, the terminal device 3 to the CPU 11 and information indicating processing results of various processes performed by the CPU 11. It transmits to the terminal device 3.

  The terminal device 3 includes an input device such as a keyboard 3a and a mouse 3b and a display device such as a liquid crystal display device 3c. The terminal device 3 inputs instructions to the test apparatus body 2, and the test result of the DUT 40 by the test apparatus body 2. The display screen of the test program debugger 21 and the array variable display tool 22 is displayed. The terminal device 3 can be realized by a general personal computer, for example.

  Next, the test program process 20 executed by the CPU 11, the test program debugger 21, the array variable display tool 22, the interface unit 23, and the variable display condition storage area 12a and the display target variable storage area 12b provided in the RAM 12 will be described in detail. Explained. These are the main parts of the development support apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the relationship of the main configuration of the development support apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a display area R1 for displaying the test program P1 created by the user is provided in a window W1 that is a display screen of the test program debugger 21. In addition, when all of the test program P1 cannot be displayed in the display area R1, a part of the test program P1 is displayed in the display area R1. The test program debugger 21 edits the test program P1 in accordance with an instruction from the user who operates the terminal device 3, and displays the contents of variables (array variables) included in the test program P1 in accordance with the user instruction. A variable to be set and a display position (variable display point) of the variable in the test program P1 can be set.

  For example, if the user operates the mouse 3b to select a variable by clicking the display position of the variable displayed in the display area R1, and then clicks the variable display point setting button B1, the contents should be displayed. A variable and its variable display point can be set. In the example shown in FIG. 2, three variables “@aaa”, “@bbb”, and “@ccc” are displayed in the display area R1, but the user has variables “@aaa”, “@bbb”, “@ By performing the above operation for each of “ccc”, the variable display points S1 to S3 for each variable can be set.

  The variable display condition storage area 12a stores various setting information set by the user operating the test program debugger 21. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, an identifier (ID) uniquely assigned without duplication, a variable display point setting position (display position), and information for identifying an application for displaying the contents of the variable ( Information) is stored for each user setting. The identifier is assigned by the test program debugger 21.

  In the example shown in FIG. 2, for the variable “@aaa” displayed in the display area R1 of the test program debugger 21, information indicating an identifier “0”, a file name “xxx.tdl”, and its line number “50”; The information indicating the array variable display tool 22 is stored as a set, and the variable “@bbb” indicates the identifier “1”, the file name “xxx.tdl”, and the number of lines “70”. Information in which a set of information and information indicating the array variable display tool 22 is set is stored. As for the variable “@ccc”, the identifier “2”, the file name “xxx.tdl”, the information indicating the number of lines “90”, and the information indicating the array variable display tool 22 are combined as information. Is saved.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a display area R <b> 2 for displaying a test result designated by the user is provided in a window W <b> 2 that is a display screen of the array variable display tool 22. The array variable display tool 22 reads the contents of the variables (display target variables) stored in the display target variable storage area 12b and displays them in the display area R2. Here, information indicating the identifiers assigned by the test program debugger 21 and the variables (“@aaa”, “@bbb”, “@ccc”) whose contents are to be displayed is sent from the test program debugger 21 to the array variable display tool 22. And the array variable display tool 22 stores it in the display target variable storage area 12b. It should be noted that the contents of these variables are saved in the display target variable saving area 12b when the test program P1 is executed.

  The display target variable storage area 12b stores the contents of variables set by the user operating the test program debugger 21. In the example shown in FIG. 2, since the variables “@aaa”, “@bbb”, and “@ccc” are set by the user, the contents of these variables obtained by executing the test program P1 together with the above identifiers are displayed. It is stored in the target variable storage area 12b. Specifically, the content of the variable “@aaa” is stored together with the identifier “0”, the content of the variable “@bbb” is stored together with the identifier “1”, and the content of the variable “@ccc” is stored together with the identifier “2”. Saved. Thus, the identifier included in the information stored in the variable display condition storage area 12a and the identifier included in the information stored in the display target variable storage area 12b have a one-to-one correspondence. For this reason, the information stored in the variable display condition storage area 12a and the information stored in the display target variable storage area 12b are associated by an identifier.

  The test program process 20 is realized by the test program P1 being executed by the CPU 11, and the test of the DUT 40 is performed under the control of the test program process 20. The test program process 20 performs control for interrupting the test program P1 according to the positional relationship between the execution position of the test program P1 and the variable display point while referring to the contents of the variable display condition storage area 12a. Control to restart the test program. When the test program P1 is interrupted, the test program process 20 notifies the interface unit 23 of a signal indicating that.

  The interface unit 23 exchanges various information between the array variable display tool 22 and the test program process 20. Specifically, when a signal indicating that the test program P1 is interrupted is input from the test program process 20, a variable to be displayed with reference to the contents of the variable display condition storage area 12a is displayed in the array variable display tool 22. Instruct. Further, when the variable content display by the array variable display tool 22 is completed, the test program process 20 is notified that the suspension of the execution of the test program P1 should be released.

  Next, the operation at the time of debugging the test program P1 will be described. When debugging the test program P1, the user first operates the keyboard 3a or mouse 3b of the terminal device 3 to instruct the activation of the test program debugger 21. When such an instruction is given, the CPU 11 reads the debugger program P11 from the hard disk 13 and executes it, thereby starting the test program debugger 21. Next, the user selects the test program P1 to be debugged and causes the test program debugger 21 to read it. With the above operation, the test program P1 can be debugged.

  Here, when the user confirms the contents of the variable during the execution of the test program P1, the user first operates the mouse 3b and clicks the display position of the variable displayed in the display area R1 of the test program debugger 21. After selecting the variable, an operation of clicking the variable display point setting button B1 is performed. Here, it is assumed that the above operation is performed for the three variables “@aaa”, “@bbb”, and “@ccc” shown in FIG. 2, and variable display points S1 to S3 are set for each of these variables. Suppose that

  Then, the test program debugger 21 stores the setting information set by the user in the variable display condition storage area 12a while assigning a uniquely determined identifier. Thereby, in the variable display condition storage area 12a, as shown in FIG. 2, for each of the variables “@aaa”, “@bbb”, “@ccc”, an identifier (ID), a variable display point (display position), And information including a set of information (application) indicating the array variable display tool 22 is stored.

  Further, information indicating the identifiers assigned by the test program debugger 21 and the variables (“@aaa”, “@bbb”, “@ccc”) whose contents are to be displayed is sent from the test program debugger 21 to the array variable display tool 22. Then, it is stored in the display target variable storage area 12b by the array variable display tool 22. As a result, as shown in FIG. 2, the display target variable storage area 12b has identifiers (ID) and information indicating each of the variables (@aaaa), “@bbb”, and “@ccc” ( Information that is a set of display target variables) is stored.

  When the setting of the variable display point is completed, the user instructs execution of the test program P1 from the test program debugger 21. Then, the test program process 20 is executed by reading the test program P1 from the hard disk 13. Here, it is assumed that the interface unit 23 is also executed together with the execution of the test program process 20. The test program process 20 sequentially executes the test program P1 from the top line. Here, the test program process 20 executes the test program P1 while confirming the contents stored in the variable display condition storage area 12a. Specifically, the test program P1 is executed while confirming whether or not the execution position (execution line) of the test program P1 has reached the display position stored in the variable display condition storage area 12a.

  If it is determined that the execution position (execution line) of the test program P1 has not reached the display position stored in the variable display condition storage area 12a, the test program process 20 continues to execute the test program P1. On the other hand, when it is determined that the execution position (execution line) of the test program P1 has reached the display position stored in the variable display condition storage area 12a (for example, it is determined that the variable display point S1 has been set). The test program process 20 interrupts (pauses) the execution of the test program P1 after finishing the processing of the line, reads the identifier corresponding to the control status from the variable display condition storage area 12a, The interface unit 23 is notified together with the fact that the identifier has been interrupted. Note that, by executing the processing of the line in which the variable display point S1 is set, the content of the variable “@aaa” is stored in the variable display condition storage area 12a.

  When the test program process 20 interrupts the execution of the test program P1 and notifies the identifier, the interface unit 23 reads information indicating the application paired with the identifier from the variable display condition storage area 12a. Specifically, for example, when the identifier “0” is notified from the test program process 20, the interface unit 23 reads information (see FIG. 2) indicating the array variable display tool 22 paired with this identifier. It is. Then, the interface unit 23 notifies the read identifier to the application (array variable display tool 22) indicated by the read information.

  When the notification from the interface unit 23 is made, the array variable display tool 22 is automatically activated and a new window W2 is displayed on the liquid crystal display device 3c of the terminal device 3. Then, the array variable display tool 22 reads the content of the variable paired with the identifier (identifier “0”) notified from the interface unit 23 from the display target variable storage area 12b, and displays the display area R2 of the new window W2. Process to be displayed. With the above processing, the waveform of the variable “@aaa” is displayed in the display area R2 of the array variable display tool 22.

  When the display process is completed, the array variable display tool 22 notifies the interface unit 23 that the display process has been completed. Upon receiving this notification, the interface unit 23 notifies the test program process 20 that the interruption of the test program should be released. By the notification from the interface unit 23, the test program process 20 resumes the execution of the test program P1. Thereafter, the same processing is performed, and when the execution of the test program P1 reaches the variable display point S2, a new window W2 is displayed by the array variable display tool 22, and the contents of the variable “@bbb” are displayed. Further, when the execution of the test program P1 reaches the variable display point S3, the array variable display tool 22 displays a new window W2 to display the contents of the variable “@ccc”.

  Through the above processing, the liquid crystal display device 3c of the terminal device 3 displays three windows W2 in which the contents of the variables “@aaa”, “@bbb”, and “@ccc” are displayed. For this reason, the user can examine the validity of the contents of the variables “@aaa”, “@bbb”, “@ccc” over time while switching the window W2 even after the execution of the test program P1. it can.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the user operates the test program debugger 21 in advance to set the variables to be displayed and the variable display points, the test is automatically performed at the variable display points. Execution of the program P1 is interrupted and the contents of the variable are displayed by the array variable display tool 22. For this reason, it is possible to reduce the user operation required for debugging as compared with the conventional case, and to improve the user-friendliness.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, when the display processing of the array variable display tool 22 is completed, the execution of the test program P1 that was automatically interrupted is resumed. Therefore, even when a plurality of variable display points are set by the user, the contents of the variable are automatically displayed by the array variable display tool 22 at each variable display point without requiring any user operation. In addition, the contents of each variable are displayed in a window W2 of a different array variable display tool 22. For this reason, it is possible to reduce user operations required for debugging, and to examine the contents of a plurality of variables by comparing them after the execution of the test program P1, thereby improving user convenience. be able to. From the above, according to the present embodiment, the user convenience is extremely high, and the debugging efficiency of the test program P1 can be dramatically increased.

  The development support apparatus and the semiconductor test apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention have been described above, but the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be freely changed within the scope of the present invention. For example, in the above embodiment, the setting information set by the user by operating the test program debugger 21 is stored separately in the variable display condition storage area 12a and the display target variable storage area 12b, but the setting information is stored in one storage area. May be saved.

  Moreover, although the said embodiment demonstrated the form with which the development support apparatus was provided in the semiconductor test apparatus, the development support apparatus of this invention performs operation | movement according to a predetermined program besides a semiconductor test apparatus. The present invention can be applied to various measurement systems that perform predetermined measurement. For example, the present invention can be applied to a measurement system that measures the state of an automobile engine (engine speed, temperature, etc.) and a system that measures a train operation state (speed, acceleration, etc.). Furthermore, the present invention can also be applied to a measurement system that measures the status of various devices provided in the plant.

It is a block diagram which shows the principal part structure of the semiconductor test apparatus by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the relationship of the principal part structure of the development assistance apparatus by one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which simplifies and shows the display screen of the conventional debugger used for the debugging of a test program. It is a figure which simplifies and shows the display screen of the conventional waveform display tool which displays the signal waveform output from a semiconductor device.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Semiconductor test apparatus 12a Variable display condition storage area 12b Display object variable storage area 20 Test program process 21 Test program debugger 22 Array variable display tool 23 Interface section 40 DUT
P1 test program S1-S3 Variable display points

Claims (4)

In a development support apparatus for supporting development of the program used in a measurement system that performs predetermined measurement by performing an operation according to a predetermined program,
Editing the program in accordance with a user instruction, an array variable to display the contents of the array variables included in the program in accordance with the user instruction, and a display position of the array variable in the program Editing means that can be set as storage means,
Variable display means for displaying the contents of the array variables obtained by the execution of the program as waveforms in individual windows;
Execution control means for performing control to interrupt execution of the program each time the execution position of the program reaches the display position set in the storage means, and notifying that the execution of the program has been interrupted;
When said from the execution control unit to the effect that interrupts the execution of the program message is supplied, with reference to the set contents in the storage means indicates the array variable to be displayed on the variable display means, said variable display Each time the contents of the means thus the array variable is displayed, development support apparatus characterized by comprising an instruction unit for notifying should unsuspend a execution of the program to the execution control unit. The storage means includes first storage means for storing the setting contents of the editing means, and second storage means for storing the contents of the array variable displayed by the variable display means,
The development support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the storage content of the first storage unit and the storage content of the second storage unit are associated with each other by a predetermined identifier. The execution control means reads an identifier corresponding to a control situation from the identifier stored in the first storage means and notifies the instruction means,
The instruction unit notifies the variable display unit of the identifier notified from the execution control unit according to the setting content related to the identifier read from the first storage unit,
The development support apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the variable display unit reads out and displays the contents of the array variable associated with the identifier notified from the instruction unit from the second storage unit. In a semiconductor test apparatus for testing a device under test by applying a test signal according to a test program to the device under test and processing a signal obtained from the device under test according to the test program,
A semiconductor test apparatus comprising the development support apparatus according to claim 1, which can support development of the test program as the predetermined program.

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