Test-Ok eC-test-mate Quick user guide
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eC-test-mate
Hardware Reference Manual
Version 1.1.0.0.
10/21/2014
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Table of contents
Overview ..................................................................................... 3
eC-test-mate types ..................................................................... 4
eC-test-mate Type I (TCC 211) ................................................. 5
Functional description ................................................................................. 5
Analog Inputs (101..104) ............................................................................ 5
Analog Outputs (101..104) .......................................................................... 7
Digital Inputs (101..104) ............................................................................. 8
Digital Outputs (Group 101 and 102) ............................................................ 9
Bi-Directional Digital I/O ............................................................................ 10
Serial Channel (UART 101) ........................................................................ 11
Programmable Power Supply (Supply 101) .................................................. 13
Board Presence ......................................................................................... 14
Pin assignment Type I .............................................................................. 15
Footprint technical drawings Type I ......................................................... 17
eC-test-mate Type II (TCC 212) .............................................. 19
Functional Description .............................................................................. 19
Analog Inputs (201..202) ........................................................................... 19
Digital Inputs (201..204) ............................................................................ 20
Digital Outputs (Group 201 and 202) .......................................................... 20
Bi-Directional Digital I/O ............................................................................ 20
Serial Channel (UART 201) ........................................................................ 20
RS485 (RS485 201) ................................................................................... 21
CAN (CAN 201) ........................................................................................ 21
I2C (I2C 201) ........................................................................................... 22
Programmable Power Supply (Supply 201) .................................................. 22
Board Presence ......................................................................................... 22
Pin assignment Type II ............................................................................. 23
Footprint technical drawing Type II ......................................................... 25
eC-test-mate Type III (TCC 213) ............................................ 27
Functional description ............................................................................... 27
Analog Inputs (301..308) ........................................................................... 27
Analog Outputs (301..304) ........................................................................ 28
Digital Inputs (301..308) ............................................................................ 28
Digital Outputs (Group 301) ....................................................................... 28
Programmable Power Supply (Supply 301) .................................................. 28
Board Presence ......................................................................................... 28
Pin assignment Type III ........................................................................... 29
Footprint technical drawing Type III ....................................................... 32
eC-test-mate Docking Station .................................................. 34
eC-test-mate Dimensions ......................................................... 35
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Overview
The eC-test-mate is a family of portable devices for production testing of printed circuit boards (PCBs). The
devices (Test Probes) are controlled by a command language on a PC to which they are connected via
USB. Each Test Probe type provides a fixed number of functions. By combining multiple Test Probes, it is
possible to create a customized of test features.
Working voltages are in the range of 0..24V for most test functions (e.g. power supply, digital and analog I/
O) except where this is not useful (e.g. UART or I2C). All inputs and outputs are protected against higher
voltages however. Although care has been taken to protect the electronics as much as possible (see the
description for each functional group in the corresponding Test Probe Type chapter), applying too high
voltages may result in damage to the device.
Unlike the TEST-OK fixture, the Test Probes are connected directly to the Unit Under Test (UUT hereafter)
without an intermediate nail bed. In order to be testable with one or more Test Probes, it is necessary that
the required pattern of test points and associated holes (the footprint) be present on the UUT.
Each Test Probe type has a unique footprint so that it is impossible to connect a Test Probes to the wrong
test points.
An eC-test-mate Docking Station is available as well. The main advantage of plugging a Test Probe into the
Docking Station is that the power that can be delivered by the Test Probe's power supply is increased. The
USB standard limits the output current to 500mA which results in a maximum output power of 2.5W. About
2W of this is available to the power supply. When connected to the eC-test-mate Docking Station, the
maximum power that is available is 7W or 1A output current whichever limit is reached first.
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eC-test-mate types
eC-test-mate Type I - green -
General purpose tester with a power supply: four analog inputs, four analog outputs and four digital
bidirectional in/outputs and four digital outputs and a UART for serial communication.
eC-test-mate Type II - blue -
This type focuses on communication interfaces. Besides a power supply, two analog inputs and four digital
bidirectional in/outputs and four digital outputs, interfaces for some common standards are provided: CAN,
RS485, I2C and UART.
eC-test-mate Type III - red -
Another general purpose tester with multiple functions on some pins for optimal flexibility. Eight pins can be
used as analog input or digital input. Furthermore, four analog outputs are provided and one group of seven
digital outputs with programmable logic '1' level.
As every eC-test-mate, a programmable power supply is available as well.
Combining eC-test-mates into a bigger tester
If the Unit Under Test (UUT) requires more test points then there are available on one or when the mix of
required test functions is not available from a specific eC-test-mate type, then it is possible to combine
multiple eC-test-mates.
There is one restriction however: it is not possible to combine multiple eC-test-mates of the same type. It is
easy to see why: since two identical eC-test-mates cannot be physically distinguished, it is possible to
interchange the two eC-test-mates when connecting them to the UUT. Besides unexpected test results, this
may even damage the UUT if e.g. the wrong power supply is set to a too high voltage.
In order to distinguish between common functions (like power supplies or digital/analog I/O) on different eC-
test-mates, the functions are numbered with a global 3-digit numbering scheme in which the first digit
indicates the eC-test-mate type. As an example, all eC-test-mates have at least one power supply. The
power supply of Type I is Supply 101 while the one of Type II is Supply 201. The same applies e.g. to analog
inputs: Type I has analog input 101..104 while Type III has analog inputs 301..308
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eC-test-mate Type I (TCC 211)
General purpose tester with a power supply: four analog inputs, four analog outputs and four digital
bidirectional in/outputs and four digital outputs and a UART for serial communication.
Functional description
This section describes all the functional blocks of the eC-test-mate Type I.
Besides the electrical specification of the interface pins on the connectors of the eC-test-mate Type I there
are also references to the TEST-OK Description Language (TDL) commands that can be used to control the
functional blocks.
A block diagram of the eC-test-mate Type I is shown in the figure below:
The eC-test-mate Type I board is connected to a PC via USB. Via this connection, information about outputs
to be set and values of inputs are exchanged about five times per second.
Analog Inputs (101..104)
There are four identical high impedance analog inputs on the board which are fed into 12-bit Analog-to-Digital
Converters (ADC for short). It is sampled at 2kHz and digitally filtered. The valid input voltage range is
100mV..24V, with a resolution of 1 mV.
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Input specifications
Input impedance: 1.8MΩ
Input range: 100mV .. 24V
Resolution: 1 mV
Accuracy: 20mV or 0.2%
Sampling rate: 2kHz with digital filtering.
The maximum allowed input voltage that will not result in damage is 44V.
Associated test command(s):
• TEST_ANALOG
• MAP
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Analog Outputs (101..104)
Four identical analog outputs can be independently programmed with an output voltage between 0 and 24V.
The output voltage is controlled by a 12-bit Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC for short) and the resulting
precision is therefore 6 mV.
Note that voltages close to 0V may experience an error up to 30mV.
The outputs are protected against short circuit by means of a 100Ω series resistor. Clamping diodes protect
the outputs against voltages above 26V and below 0V if such voltages were inadvertently applied to the
outputs.
All outputs are set to 0V when communication is lost with the PC.
The maximum output current per channel is:
• 40 mA Source
• 20 mA Sink
Note: however that there will be a voltage drop across the internal 100Ω series resistor, resulting in a lower
voltage on test pin.
Output specifications
Input range: 100mV .. 24V
Resolution: 6 mV
Accuracy:
100mV .. 1V 20mV
1V and higher 0.1% (typically 0.05% above 3V)
Associated test command(s):
• SET_ANALOG
• MAP
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Digital Inputs (101..104)
There are four digital inputs. The inputs contain a Schmitt trigger circuit and therefore have a hysteresis: the
digital level goes from '0' to '1' at 1.5V while remains '1' until the voltage drops below 0.75V.
Input impedance: 1MΩ
The maximum specified working input voltage is 24V. Clamping diodes protect the inputs against voltages
above 25V and below 0V.
The maximum allowed input voltage that will not result in damage is 31V.
Some of the inputs have extra functionality:
Inputs 101..104
Inputs 101..104 are located on the same test pins as (open collector) output bits 1..4 of group 102, making
them useful for testing bidirectional signals.
Note however the 330R resistor between the open collector output and the test pin!!!
Associated test command(s):
• TEST_DIGITAL
• MAP
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Digital Outputs (Group 101 and 102)
For optimal flexibility, the digital outputs are separated into two groups. The output voltage corresponding to
a '1' can be programmed separately for group 101. Group 102 has open drain outputs meaning that
'configuration' of the '1' output level must be done via an external pull-up resistor if necessary.
All outputs are switched off when communication is lost with the PC.
Group 101
Specifications: VoutH = 2.5..24V,
VoutL = 0V
Isource max = 40mA, Isink Max 20mA,
Rout = 100Ω
Group 101, is protected against short circuit by means of a 100Ω series resistor. Clamping diodes protect
the outputs against voltages above 25V and below 0V if such voltages were inadvertently applied to the
outputs.
Note: the internal 100R resistor can only dissipate 100mW. E.g. when the output is programmed for 5V and
24V is applied on the corresponding EC-test-mate pin, then there will be a voltage of 18.5V across the 100R
resistor which would result in 3.4W dissipation!
Note: besides the maximum current, there is also a limit on dissipated power by the outputs. The total
power dissipated by bits 1..4 shall not exceed 500mW
Note: the configured output voltage of Group 101 is also used to determine the logic '1' output level of the
serial channel as long as the voltage is less or equal to 5V (above this voltage, the serial output is fixed to
5V independently of the Group 101 voltage)
Note: the outputs of group 101 are not rail-to-rail (LM324) and special care must be taken when the outputs
must sink a pull-up on the UUT. If the load to be sinked is less than 10kΩ, then an offset voltage will be
present on the output. As an example, if a 1KΩ pull-up to 5V is connected to an output, then the output
voltage will not go lower than 1.4V!!
Group 102
Group 102 consists of four 'open drain' outputs, pulling the output to GND via a 330R series resistor. The
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outputs share the same test pins as digital inputs 101..104 making these pins 'bi-directional'.
Setting a '1' with the SET_DIGITAL command on the open drain outputs will activate the output. I.e. the
output will pulled to GND.
When the output is pulled up to a positive voltage, the output may seem inverted since setting a '1' via the
SET_DIGITAL command will result in a '0' on the output!
Note: due to the series resistor at the input pins, the open-drain outputs have this series resistor as well,
resulting in a voltage divider. This may cause unexpected behaviour is low resistance pull-up resistors are
present.
Associated test command(s):
• CONFIG_DIGITAL_GROUP
• SET_DIGITAL
• MAP
Bi-Directional Digital I/O
With the eC-test-mate Type I, it is possible to test up to 4 bi-directional digital signals.
As described in previous two sections, the 4 output bits of Group 102 are located on the same connector
locations as digital inputs 101..104. Since the outputs are open-collector outputs, the line can be left floating
by setting the output to '0'. A pull-up resistor shall be present on the UUT.
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Serial Channel (UART 101)
The serial channel is designed to work with signal levels up to 5V. The actual output voltage is equal to the
voltage that is configured for Digital Output Group 101 if this voltage is equal or less than 5V. For higher
Group 101 voltages, the Serial channel is fixed at 5V.
The Serial input has a fixed VIHmin of 1.7V.
The SERAL_TX pin is driven by a level shifter (SN74LVC1T45) with a series resistor of 100 Ω. This means
that the sink and source current of the output is limited.
The baud rate, parity and some other parameters can be configured via a configuration command.
Two buffers are associated with the serial channel, one for transmission and one for reception. Transmission
is initiated by sending one or more bytes to the TEST-OK Board by means of the SERIAL_TX command.
The bytes in this packet are copied to the transmit buffer and then sent over the serial interface using the
configured baud rate and parity.
Received bytes are stored in the receive buffer. These bytes can be sent to the host in two ways: either on
request of the host ('polling' mode) or when one of two configured conditions occur ('interrupt' mode): more
than <n> bytes are present in the buffer (RxThreshold) or one or more bytes are present in the buffer and no
new data is received for more than <t> milliseconds (RxTimeout).
When StxMode is enabled (see description below), then the reception of an ETX byte will also result in the
buffer contents being sent to the PC.
The interrupt method is best and guarantees that there is no unnecessary delay between the reception of
data and the availability on the host.
The RxTimeout method allows to synchronize with the stream of bytes from the target board when there is
some time between two consecutive packets.
Note 1: the naming of the connector pins is as seen from the eC-test-mate. SERIAL_TX is therefore an
output on which the data towards the UUT is provided by the EC-test-mate and SERIAL_RX is an input on
which data from the UUT is received.
Note 2: the output (transmit) driver on the eC-test-mate Type I has a 100R series resistor and may therefore
not be able to source or sink excessive loads on the UUT. For higher baud rates, this may also have an
impact on the wave forms.
Configurable parameters and their default after start-up or reset:
Parameter Description Default
Value
Baud rate Baud rate of the serial channel. See the table below for information on the
error % for standard baud rates.
Non-standard baud rates are supported as well as long as they are in the
range 300..11520 baud.
9600 baud
Parity Determines whether a parity bit is sent and whether it is even or odd No parity
RxInterrupt If 'on', the TEST-OK Board will send RX_RECEIVE packets without waiting for
a host request
Off
RxThreshold Number of received bytes in the Rx buffer that will generate an 'interrupt' 32 bytes
RxTimeout Time after which received bytes are sent to the host in the absence of new
data
100 ms
StxMode If set, the TEST-OK firmware will put STX and ETX bytes around the packet
and DLE's will be inserted if necessary.
off
Some standard Baud Rates and their error percentage:
Baud Rate Actual Rate % Error
300 300 0.00
1200 1200 0.00
2400 2400 0.02
9600 9606 0.06
19200 19193 -0.03
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57600 57803 0.35
115200 114.943 -0.22
STX mode explained
Sending packets in STX mode is a way synchronize the receiver with the stream of bytes that is received.
The principle (and implementation) is simple: each packet starts with a 'Start of Transmission' (STX) byte
which has a unique value that will never be transmitted in the actual packet data. The end of a packet is
marked with another unique value: the 'End of Transmission' byte (ETX). Synchronizing is now very easy for
the receiver: as soon as an STX byte is received, the start of the packet is found and as soon as ETX is
received, the packet has been completely received. Besides the synchronization, another advantage is that
the receiving software does not need to have any knowledge about the packet size.
If the packet contains bytes with the same value as STX and ETX, then these values cannot be transmitted
as such since this would make the receiver resynchronize on the start of a new packet or on the premature
end of the current packet. Instead, a third unique value is defined to 'escape' the normal meaning of the
special values. The DLE (Data Link Escape) byte is therefore inserted into the transmission on every
occurrence of STX, ETX and DLE in the packet data. Thus, when receiving DLE, then this byte shall not be
added to the packet but the next received byte shall be added without interpreting the received value as STX,
ETX or DLE.
Values used by the eC-test-mate Type I:
STX = 0x0F (1510)
ETX = 0x04 (410)
DLE = 0x05 (510)
Associated test command(s):
• CONFIG_SERIAL
• TRANSMIT_SERIAL
• SET_SERIAL
• TEST_SERIAL
• WAITTX
• WAITRX
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Programmable Power Supply (Supply 101)
One independently programmable power supply is provided in order to power the board under test.
The output voltage of the supplies is programmable from 1.26..24V (in 12-bit resolution: 6 mV steps).
The total available power depends on whether the eC-test-mate is connected to the dedicated eC-test-mate
Docking Station or not. The USB standard limits the output current to 500mA which results in a maximum
output power of 2.5W. About 2W of this is available to the power supply. When connected to the eC-test-
mate Docking Station, the maximum power that is available is 4W or 1A output current whichever limit is
reached first. The two figures at the end of this section show the available output current and power for a
number of output voltages.
Note: trying to draw more power from a standard USB port than it can provide will result in the eC-test-mate
to temporarily disconnect (due to a reset of the USB circuitry).
Worst case voltage output accuracy is 0.25%.
When switched off, the power supplies are disconnected from the connector.
Note that if a value lower than 1.26V is programmed, then the power supply will be set to 1.26V.
Note: The total power will be limited to 2W or 4W with a maximum output current of 1A, which means that
at e.g. 20V output voltage, the maximum current is set to 0.1A or 0.2A while at 2V, the maximum output
current is 1A with or without Docking Station.
The actual supply current is reported back to the PC and a current limit from 0..1A can also be
programmed: when the programmed value is exceeded, the firmware of the eC-test-mate will switch off the
supply and it will remain off until the host has reset the power supply (by switching it off and on again).
Current measurement:
• Resolution: 1 mA
• Non-linearity over full range: 0.9% typical
The power supply will also shut-down when communication is lost with the PC.
Associated test command(s):
• CONFIG_SUPPLY
• SET_SUPPLY
• TEST_SUPPLYCURRENT
The two figures below show the available power/output current for a number of output voltages.
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`
Board Presence
A test pin with internal pull-up is available in order to detect whether the eC-test-mate is connected to the
PCB under test or not. Connect the corresponding test pad on the PCB under test to GND. The pin is called
BOARD_DETECT.
Note: it is mandatory that the Board Detect pin of every eC-test-mate that is used in a test is connected to
GND on the UUT when using the TEST-TRACK or eC-my-test software, since a test cannot be started when
no board under test is detected. The board presence is used to determine whether a test can be started. If
there is no board present, no test can be started.
Associated test commands:
• DISABLE_BOARDDETECT
• ENABLE_BOARDDETECT
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Pin assignment Type I
Pin Function Range
1 Board Detect -
2 Analog Input 101
100mV..24V, 1mV resolution (12-bit ADC)
3 Analog Input 102
4 Analog Input 103
5 Analog Input 104
6 Analog Output 101
0..24V, 6mV resolution (12-bit DAC)
7 Analog Output 102
8 Analog Output 103
9 Analog Output 104
10 Digital Input 101
Digital Output 102.1
Input: 0..24V
Output: Open drain
11 Digital Input 102
Digital Output 102.2
Input: 0..24V
Output: Open drain
12 Digital Input 103
Digital Output 102.3
Input: 0..24V
Output: Open drain
13 Digital Input 104
Digital Output 102.4
Input: 0..24V
Output: Open drain
14 Digital Output 101.1 Output: 2.5..24V, 6mV resolution (12-bit DAC)
15 Digital Output 101.2
16 Digital Output 101.3
17 Digital Output 101.4
18 UART 101 TX 300..115200 Baud
TX: 2.5..5V, RX 5V logic '1' level
19 UART 101 RX
20 Supply 101 1.5..24V, 6mV resolution (12-bit DAC)
Max. 7W or 1A when used with TEST-Mate
docking station. Without the docking station,
the maximum depends on the power capabilities
of the USB port (2W typical)
21 GND -
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Footprint technical drawings Type I
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eC-test-mate Type II (TCC 212)
This type focuses on communication interfaces. Besides a power supply, two analog inputs and four digital
bidirectional in/outputs and four digital outputs, interfaces for some common standards are provided: CAN,
RS485, I2C and UART.
Functional Description
This section describes all the functional blocks of the eC-test-mate Type II which is specialized for testing
UUTs with communication interfaces.
Besides the electrical specification of the interface pins on the connectors of the eC-test-mate Type II there
are also references to the TEST-OK Description Language (TDL) commands that can be used to control the
functional blocks.
A block diagram of the eC-test-mate Type II is shown in the figure below:
As can be seen from the diagram, the numbering of inputs, outputs and other functions start at 201. The
reason is that multiple eC-test-mate types can be combined into one bigger tester. The first digit indicates
the eC-test-mate type (2) while the last two digits increment up from 1.
Note that the UART and RS485 blocks use the same internal UART, resulting in only one of the two blocks
being active.
Analog Inputs (201..202)
There are two identical high impedance analog inputs (numbered 201 and 202) on the board which are fed
into 12-bit Analog-to-Digital Converters (ADC for short).
The valid input voltage range is 100mV..24V, with a resolution of 1 mV.
See Analog Inputs (101..104) for a detailed description of the specifications.
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Digital Inputs (201..204)
There are four digital inputs, numbered 5..8. The inputs contain a Schmitt trigger circuit and therefore have a
hysteresis: the digital level goes from '0' to '1' at 1.5V while remains '1' until the voltage drops below 0.75V.
The inputs are identical to those of Type I. See Digital Inputs (101..104) for a detailed description of the
specifications.
Digital Outputs (Group 201 and 202)
For optimal flexibility, the digital outputs are separated into two groups: Group 201 and 202. The output
voltage corresponding to a '1' can be programmed separately for group 201. Group 202 has open drain
outputs meaning that 'configuration' of the '1' output level must be done via an external pull-up resistor if
necessary. The 4 output bits of Group 202 are located on the same connector locations as digital inputs
201..204.
See Digital Outputs (Group 101 and 102) for a detailed description of the specifications: Group 201 shares
the specification of Group 101 and Group 202 shares those of Group 102.
Bi-Directional Digital I/O
With the eC-test-mate Type II, it is possible to test up to 4 bi-directional digital signals.
As described in previous section, the 4 output bits of Group 202 are located on the same connector
locations as digital inputs 201..204. Since the outputs are open-collector outputs, the line can be left floating
by setting the output to '0'. A pull-up resistor shall be present on the UUT.
Serial Channel (UART 201)
The serial channel (numbered as '201') is designed to work with signal levels up to 5V. The actual output
voltage is determined by the voltage that is applied to the UART_VCC test pin as long as this voltage is
equal or less than 5V. For higher voltages, the Serial channel is fixed at 5V.
UART_VCC (input)
This pin determines the logic '1' level of the UART_TX output and MUST BE CONNECTED to the appropriate
voltage on the UUT.
Typical working voltage range is 1.7..5.0V. Absolute maximum voltage is 24V.
The current drawn from this pin consists of a quiescent current of about 4µA.
The UART_TX (output)
The transmit output is driven by a level shifter (SN74LVC1T45) with a series resistor of 100 Ω. This means
that the sink and source current of the output is limited.
UART_RX (input)
The Serial input has a fixed VIHmin of 1.7V, independent of the voltage that is applied to the UART_VCC
input.
Note 1: The UART_VCC test pin must be connected on the UUT to a voltage that corresponds with the
logic '1' level of the serial interface. If left open, the UART_TX output will NOT work.
Note 2: The internal eC-test-mate UART is shared between the UART test pins and the RS485 test pins.
Depending on the last configuration command, either the UART pins or RS485 pins will be active.
Inactivity for the UART TX pin is defined as a constant '1' level.
See Serial Channel (UART 101) for the configurable parameters (baud rate etc).
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