Automatic LSI testing apparatus using expert system

摘要

An automatic testing apparatus includes an expert rule which is derived from expert knowledge and defines a tree of successively traceable nodes interconnected by decision branches which lead to a plurality of fault modes. Each of the nodes defines a particular test pattern and a corresponding expected value. One of the nodes is specified and a test pattern defined by the specified node is applied to an LSI chip under test and a result signal is derived therefrom. This result signal is compared with the expected value defined by the specified node to produce a comparison result. The tree of the expert rule is traced from the specified node to a subsequent node according to the comparison result and the subsequent node is specified instead of the previously specified node. The process is repeated as the tree is traced from one node to another until one of the fault modes is reached to identify a chip failure.