Testpoint System
Contents
Testing is an important part of the board manufacturing process. After fabrication, the board is typically tested to ensure no short or open circuits. Once fully populated with all its components, a board is often tested again to ensure signal integrity and device operation. To aide in this process, it is fundamentally beneficial to have a scheme of points on the board – testpoints – which the testing equipment can probe and perform the required tests.
The location of testpoints on a board will depend on factors including the mode of testing (including bare-board fabrication testing, in-circuit assembly testing, etc..) and the method of testing (including automated testing using flying probe and bed-of-nails fixtures, hand testing, etc..). For example, when performing bare-board fabrication testing, the board is not populated and so all pads and vias are 'fair game' when it comes to assigning testpoints. The locations used for testpoints when performing in-circuit assembly testing however, will almost always be different. As the board is populated, you may no longer have probe access to component pads and certainly no access to pads and vias under a component!
Altium Designer provides a powerful system to handle your testpoint needs and enhance the testability of your boards, allowing you to separately assign testpoints for bare-board fabrication testing and/or in-circuit assembly testing as required. Testpoints can be assigned manually or, in a more streamlined and automated fashion, using the Testpoint Manager.
Considering Your Testpoint Strategy
Before jumping into the assignation of pads and vias for use as testpoint locations, it is a good idea to step back and think about what is required. The following are just some pointers to consider when defining a strategy to incorporate testpoints into a design:
- When choosing the side of the board that testpoints will be allowed on, consideration should be given to the testing processes and associated fixtures that will be used. For example, will the board be probed from the bottom side only, the top side only, or both sides.
- A testpoint underneath a component (on the same side of the board as the component) is usually used at the bare-board testing stage. This should be taken into consideration when planning testpoint locations for assembled board testing.
- It is advisable to locate all testpoints on one side of the board only, using vias to achieve this if necessary. The reason for this lies in the fact that a dual-head test fixture incurs greater cost than a single-head test fixture.
- The more non-standard and complex your pattern of testpoints, the more costly it will be to configure a fixture with which to test the board. The best philosophy is to develop a methodology that will result in generic testability. A well-honed and adaptable testpoint policy will allow different designs to be tested efficiently and cost-effectively.
- Careful consideration should be given to any via tenting requirements of the design. Tenting a testpoint-designated via will effectively block test probe contact. Even partial tenting using a liquid photoimageable (LPI) solder mask will cause contact problems, as the mask liquid will tend to run away through the via hole. Peelable solder mask may indeed be used to provide temporary tenting of such designated vias, but this can often prove quite costly.
- Consult with your fabrication and assembly houses closely to make sure any specific design parameters are taken into account when specifying testpoints. These could include testpoint-to-testpoint clearances and testpoint-to-component clearances that may be more strict than normal placement and routing clearances.
Pad and Via Testpoint Support
Altium Designer provides full support for testpoints, allowing you to specify pads (thru-hole or SMD) and/or vias to be used as testpoint locations in fabrication and/or assembly testing. A Pad or Via is nominated for use as a testpoint by setting its relevant testpoint properties – should it be a fabrication or assembly testpoint, and on which side of the board should it be used as a testpoint. These properties can be found in the Pad or Via properties dialogs.
To streamline the process and alleviate the need for setting the testpoint properties of pads/vias manually, Altium Designer provides you with a method to automatically assign testpoints based on defined design rules and using the Testpoint Manager. This automated assignment simply sets the relevant testpoint properties for the pad/via in each case. You of course have the option to manually specify testpoints – in essence, handcrafting at the individual pad/via level – giving you full control over the testpoint scheme employed for your board.
A pad or via is specified for use as a testpoint through the relevant options in its associated properties dialog - a process that is most efficiently
performed through use of the Testpoint Manager.
When opening PCB designs created in a release of the software prior to the Summer 09 release, any enabled testpoint options will become enabled Fabrication testpoint options.
Design Rules
The constraints of a PCB design should be thought out and implemented as a well-honed set of design rules. To implement a successful testpoint scheme – where all defined testpoints can be accessed and used as part of the bare-board and/or in-circuit testing, governing constraints must be put in place. To this end, the following rule types are definable as part of the PCB Editor's Design Rules system:
Access and define rules of these types from the PCB Rules and Constraints Editor dialog (Design»Design Rules).
Define separate design rules to constrain which pads and/or vias in the design can be used as Fabrication testpoints and Assembly testpoints, and which nets require testpoints.
The Testpoint Style and Usage rules are identical, in terms of constraints, between the two testing modes (fabrication and assembly). The style rule essentially specifies constraints that a pad or via has to meet in order to be considered for selection as a testpoint location. The usage rule simply specifies which nets require a testpoint. When defining a style rule, the rule scope can be quickly created to target the precise pad and/or via objects for testpoint consideration, using the Rule Scope Helper.
The testpoint design rules are used by the Testpoint Manager, the Autorouter, Online and Batch DRC processes and also during output generation.
When opening PCB designs or importing design rules created in a release of the software prior to the Summer 09 release, Testpoint Style rules will become Fabrication Testpoint Style rules and Testpoint Usage rules will become Fabrication Testpoint Usage rules.
Managing Testpoints
Assigning testpoints manually can be a painstaking and laborious job at the best of times. Imagine this task on a more complex board, populated with hundreds of components (possibly on both sides of the board) and the process cries out for a more automated method of testpoint assignment. To cater for streamlined management of testpoints in your board designs, Altium Designer equips the PCB Editor with a Testpoint Manager. This Testpoint Manager search for you for existing Vias and Pads that can be used as testpoints.
Manage your fabrication and assembly testpoint requirements quickly and efficiently using the Testpoint Manager.
Accessed from the PCB Editor's main Tools menu (Tools»Testpoint Manager), the Testpoint Manager provides controls allowing you to automatically assign and clear testpoints from the one convenient location. A listing of all nets in the design is provided, with status to indicate testpoint coverage – either Complete or Incomplete – for both bare-board fabrication and in-circuit assembly testing.
Click the Fabrication Testpoints or Assembly Testpoints button to Assign or Clear that type of testpoint. Note that you can manually select nets in the upper region of the dialog to selectively assign testpoints.
Whether assigning testpoints for some or all of the nets in a design, the Testpoint Manager follows the style and usage rules defined for fabrication and assembly testpoints. To see the order that valid objects are searched click the Search Order button. To change the order, right-click on an entry in the search order list and use the floating menu commands or the Shift+Up Arrow and Shift+Down Arrow shortcuts to move it up or down in the list.
The Status Summaries region provides a full summary of the testpoint status for the board, for both testing modes. This region updates with each assignment or clearance action performed. For more lower-level detail, use the Assignment Results region. This will give detail, for example, on the number of top/bottom pads/vias involved in an assignment/clearance.
The Testpoint Manager replaces the Tools»Find and Set Testpoints and Tools»Clear All Testpoints commands found in releases of Altium Designer prior to the Summer 09 release.
Checking the Validity of Testpoints
Defined fabrication and assembly testpoint rules are followed as part of the PCB Editor's Design Rule Checking (DRC) facility. Online and/or Batch DRC checking can be enabled for the various rule types from within the Design Rule Checker dialog (Tools»Design Rule Check).
Include your testpoint design rules as part of the Online or Batch DRC processes.
Testpoint-related Query Fields
In support of the various fabrication and assembly testpoints that can be assigned in a design, the following testpoint-related keywords are available for use when targeting testpoints using logical query expressions. Each of the following can be found in the PCB Functions - Fields category, when using the Query Helper:
IsAssyTestpoint– is an assembly testpoint
IsFabTestpoint– is a fabrication testpoint
IsTestpoint– is a Top or Bottom side testpoint
Testpoint– is it a Top or Bottom side testpoint
TestpointAssy– is it an assembly testpoint
TestpointAssyBottom– is it a Bottom side assembly testpoint
TestpointAssyTop– is it a Top side assembly testpoint
TestpointBottom– is it a Bottom side testpoint
TestpointFab– is it a fabrication testpoint
TestpointFabBottom– is it a Bottom side fabrication testpoint
TestpointFabTop– is it a Top side fabrication testpoint
TestpointTop– is it a Top side testpoint
Create logical expressions for queries to target and return testpoints in your design as required. Some examples of logical query expressions targeting fabrication and assembly testpoint are:
(ObjectKind = 'Pad') And (TestpointAssy = 'True') – targets all pads that are assembly testpoints
IsPad And (TestpointAssyTop = 'True') – targets all pads that are Top side assembly testpoints
(ObjectKind = 'Pad') And (TestpointFab = 'True') – targets all pads that are fabrication testpoints
((IsPad Or IsVia)) And (TestpointAssy = 'True') – targets all pads and vias that are assembly testpoints
((IsPad Or IsVia)) And IsFabTestpoint – targets all pads and vias that are fabrication testpoints.
Generating Testpoint Reports
Altium Designer includes dedicated report generators for generation of fabrication and assembly testpoint reports respectively. These two report generators utilize the relevant testpoint properties for the pad and via primitives in a design. A fabrication testpoint report will therefore only use pad or via Fabrication testpoint settings. An assembly testpoint report will use only Assembly testpoint settings.
Reports can be generated either directly from within the PCB document (using the File»Fabrication Outputs»Test Point Report and File»Assembly Outputs»Test Point Report commands), or by using appropriately configured output generators defined in an Output Job Configuration file (*.OutJob). The latter is created using Altium Designer's OutputJob Editor – an invaluable resource for getting your design to manufacture.
Include and configure fabrication and assembly testpoint report output generators within a self-contained and versatile Output Job Configuration file. Once defined, obtain your reports at the touch of a button!
The settings defined in a Testpoint Setup dialog when generating output directly from the PCB are distinct and separate to those defined for the same output type in an Output Job Configuration file. In the case of the former, the settings are stored in the project file, whereas for the latter they are stored in the Output Job Configuration file.
Regardless of the method used to generate a report, the report options themselves are defined in the same dialog. For a fabrication testpoint report, this involves the Fabrication Testpoint Setup dialog. For an assembly testpoint report, the Assembly Testpoint Setup dialog is used. Report options are identical between these dialogs.
Define report options, including generated file format, using the relevant report setup dialog.
Upon generation, the output will be added to the project and appear in the Projects Panel under the Generated folder.
Role of the IPC-D-356A Netlist File
One of the three flavours of testpoint report output formats is an IPC-D-356A netlist file. This file is typically used to target the bare-board fabrication testing mode. The IPC file is post-processed into commands that drive a flying probe testing device.
Regardless of which features are specifically identified as test point locations in an IPC-D-356A file, board fabrication houses can generally use the file data to achieve whatever type of testing that they want although, depending on circumstances and the content of the file, it may require some manual intervention to do so.