Today’s exciting new low voltage technology devices deliver smaller, more powerful consumer products with longer battery life than ever before. Yet, while these technologies produce considerable benefits for consumers, they cause significant difficulties for electronics manufacturers.

Smaller device sizes and lower maximum voltage thresholds cause new technology devices to be vulnerable to over-voltage and over-current during powered-up testing. Over-voltage and over-current conditions occur routinely in most in-circuit testers and can immediately destroy components or severely damage them to cause latent board failures in the field, leading to angry customers and increased warranty costs.

SafeTest™ Protection Technologies

The SafeTest™ protection technologies found in Teradyne’s TestStation™ in-circuit test system provide the only ICT solution capable of safe and reliable testing of today’s new low voltage technologies. SafeTest protection technology provides electronics manufacturers with the voltage accuracy and backdrive current measurement necessary to perform accurate, reliable, and safe powered-up testing of today’s new low-voltage technologies, assuring product quality and reducing overall product costs.

Features of SafeTest Include:

• Automatic Driver Verification
• Backdrive Current Sensing
• Closed Loop, Low Impedance Drivers
• Multi-Level Digital Isolation Software
• Isolates multiple levels back from DUT pins for more reliable isolation
• ser can control the maximum number of levels to isolate
• Automatically terminates floating input pins to prevent them from oscillating
• Prevents output pins from changing while they are being backdriven
• Minimizes backdriving and eliminates potential voltage spikes on the UUT
• Per-Pin Programmable Logic Level Assignments
• Programmable Backdrive Currents and Duration
• Specialized Digital Controller

Read more SafeTest information from our Resource Center:
SafeTest™ Protection Technology Datasheet (PDF, 76Kb)
Introduction to SafeTest Webinar
Introduction to SafeTest Presentation (PDF, 764Kb)

Challenges of Testing Low Voltage Technologies at In-Circuit Test (PDF, 726Kb)
Backdrive Current-Sensing Techniques Provide ICT Benefits (PDF, 210Kb)
Keep pc-board testing from harming low-voltage ICs (PDF, 83Kb)