BXELK-TN-003: Video streams integrity verification for Automated Test Equipments (ATE)

Info Box Applies to BORA Xpress

History

Version	Date	Notes
1.0.0	November 2017	First public release

Introduction

This document describes a practical application of BoraX SOM. Specifically, it illustrates the use of such SOM to build a module to be integrated into an Automated Test Equipments (ATE).

The following picture shows a simplified block diagram of the entire system. The ATE tests the functionalities of the product–also known as device under test (DUT)–by exchanging data over its numerous interfaces. In this case, the DUT integrates some video outputs (namely HDMI, LVDS0, and LVDS1) that consist of differential pairs. These outputs usually drive LCD screens or HDMI monitors. In order to test them, the easiest solution is to connect such displays and to verify that the test images are visualized properly. Even though this approach is straightforward, it is very economically inefficient because it is slow and error-prone, as it requires a human operator to visually inspect the displays.

The solution described in this technical note addresses this issue. By implementing an automatic test system, it fully releases the operator from this task. Also, the automated test is much quicker and much more reliable, as it implements a 100% coverage of the pixels the test frames are composed of.

Implementation

From the system standpoint, the additional module consists of a carrier board hosting the BoraX SOM. This board was designed according to the guidelines detailed here.

Thanks to the rich set of available interfaces of BoraX, the integration of the new module was straightforward. It acts as a slave with respect to the main test module which implements the business logic of the entire ATE.