PMBUS and SMPS Validation Software
PmBUS Validation for 4 slave chips in parallel - Analog Validation included
Like The PMIC Single Event Effect Testing Bot, this bot is part of the PMIC and SMPS Validation portfolio from I2SeeBots. The following features are common to both PMBUS Slave and PMBUS Master Validation aspects of this Bot:
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The software is constructed as a modular script based engine (either excel based or GUI based with flexibility, early proving and usability in mind). A mechanism is provided for sequencing a set of functional blocks that can
a) Initiate PMBUS 1.3 transactions with configurable timings on up to 4 PMBUS slave devices at a time.
b) Execute configurable operations on AI,AO,DI,DO using a set of selectable modules. These could, for instance, be used to conduct Vin,In, Vout tests with suitable external circuitry set up by the customer
c) Enable constructs such as sweeps with configurable exit conditions
d) Allow for fault tolerance tests such as Skip or add a clock bit, Send NACK instead of ACK for a Read Byte, Send ACK instead of NACK for last Read Byte, Send incorrect PEC byte, Send invalid Data byte
e) Send a hardware timed configurable payload of PMBUS write/read commands with configurable spacing and log the read back data
f) Perform basic functionality checks on SMBAlert handling
g) DUT abstraction, test parameter abstraction
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2. The software logs the following data
a) Basic spec validation report- a single row for each spec parameter
b) Fault tolerance report of DUT reaction to out of place and unexpected packets
c) If the prescribed Oscilloscope was connected and enabled in the software, then oscilloscope scope shots
d) Command summary report
e) Digital scope shots
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3. The software supports the following Debug features
a) Ability to trigger an external oscilloscope upon failure for context based debugging
b) Ability to reproduce a failure condition and exercise it standalone
c) Ability to overlay protocol specific decoding information on digital scopeshots (eg. ACK, data bit indicator, write/read frames, parity etc)
d) Ability to send email upon failure eg. in long overnight runs
e) Common sense ‘what could be wrong’ pointers for usual HW/setup problems
f) Problem report snapshots to I2SeeBots so we could quickly assist you.
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4. The software supports following Automation features
a) Ability to invoke scripts and feed parameters from an external environment that customer selects
b) Ability to cause external settings to be tagged along with the data
c) Ability to log test timing information and to estimate test completion time
d) Ability to configure certain logging characteristics