Combining RF Functional Testing and In-Circuit Test Systems

Digital Circuit Board Manufacturers have benefited greatly in recent years from In-Circuit Test Systems available from a number of sources. These systems provide sophisticated tools such as Boundary Scan and TestJet technology for detecting printed circuit board errors prior to subsequent assembly operations. High volume RF and mixed signal circuit board manufacturers have been less fortunate in the selection of in-circuit tools to detect defects in RF components, primarily because of limitations of the probes used to interrogate digital circuits. This paper presents a method for incorporating RF functional testing from within In-Circuit Test Systems. The technique relies on specially designed RF probes and multitasked software to mesh the RF functional testing with traditional In-Circuit test methods. An example of this technique is presented using the HP3070 In-Circuit Test System and an HP 8753C Network Analyzer.