SYSTEM FOR CALIBRATION MANAGEMENT AND METHOD OF MANAGING CALIBRATION

Abstract

A system for calibration management is described. The system includes at least one measurement instrument for testing a device under test and a monitoring device. The monitoring device is connected with the measurement instrument. The monitoring device collects parameters from the measurement instrument during the testing. The monitoring device creates a calibration fingerprint based on the parameters collected, which is indicative of the calibration status of the measurement instrument. The system includes an interface via which information based on the calibration fingerprint is outputted, indicating if a new calibration of the measurement instrument is necessary or not. Further, a method of managing calibration of a measurement instrument is described.

Claims

1. A system for calibration management, the system comprising: at least one measurement instrument for testing a device under test and a monitoring device, wherein the monitoring device is connected with the measurement instrument, wherein the monitoring device collects parameters from the measurement instrument during the testing, wherein the monitoring device creates a calibration fingerprint based on the parameters collected, which is indicative of the calibration status of the measurement instrument, and wherein the system comprises an interface via which information based on the calibration fingerprint is outputted, indicating if a new calibration of the measurement instrument is necessary or not.

2. The system according to claim 1, wherein the system is a calibration management system that is configured to manage the calibration of the measurement instrument.

3. The system according to claim 1, wherein at least one environmental parameter is also taken into account when creating the calibration fingerprint, and wherein the at least one environmental parameter includes at least one of an environmental temperature and an environmental humidity.

4. The system according to claim 1, wherein the parameters collected include at least one of an uncertainty from a measurement, a check of a golden standard, a parameter defined in IEEE 370, a parameter associated with a movement of a component connected to the measurement instrument, a parameter associated with a movement of the measurement instrument, a power on and power off cycle, an idle time, a usage time, an expected lifetime, a number of failed self-alignments, or a temperature profile of the measurement instrument.

5. The system according to claim 1, wherein at least one of trends or statistics of the parameters are taken into account when creating the calibration fingerprint.

6. The system according to claim 1, wherein the calibration fingerprint is created based on various different methods used for obtaining the parameters.

7. The system according to claim 1, wherein the monitoring device checks the calibration fingerprint created against a margin associated with the calibration fingerprint.

8. The system according to claim 7, wherein the monitoring device is configured to determine an urgency of the calibration when checking the calibration fingerprint created against the margin.

9. The system according to claim 7, wherein the monitoring device is configured to identify when checking the calibration fingerprint created against the margin if the calibration is not necessary, if the calibration is necessary soon or if the calibration has to be done immediately.

10. The system according to claim 1, wherein the monitoring device creates the calibration fingerprint for each measurement performed by the measurement instrument.

11. The system according to claim 7, wherein the monitoring device checks the calibration fingerprint created against the margin for each measurement performed by the measurement instrument.

12. The system according to claim 1, wherein the system provides a continuous calibration monitoring.

13. The system according to claim 7, wherein the monitoring device adapts the margin associated with the calibration fingerprint.

14. The system according to claim 13, wherein the monitoring device adapts the margin associated with the calibration fingerprint after each check.

15. The system according to claim 1, wherein the information provided via the interface comprises information about how to protract the new calibration.

16. The system according to claim 1, wherein the interface provides test-specific information.

17. The system according to claim 16, wherein the test-specific information is based on the device under test to be tested by the measurement instrument.

18. The system according to claim 1, wherein the monitoring device provides the interface.

19. A method of managing calibration of a measurement instrument, the method comprises: performing a test on a device under test by a measurement instrument; collecting parameters from the measurement instrument by a monitoring device; processing the parameters collected by the monitoring device; creating a calibration fingerprint based on the parameters collected, which is indicative of the calibration status of the measurement instrument; and outputting information based on the calibration fingerprint via an interface, wherein the information indicates if a new calibration of the measurement instrument is necessary or not.

20. The system according to claim 1, wherein the calibration fingerprint corresponds to a calculated calibration profile.

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0052] The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages of the claimed subject matter will become more readily appreciated as the same become better understood by reference to the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

[0053] FIG. 1 schematically shows a system for calibration management according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0054] FIG. 2 schematically shows an overview of a calibration routine according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and

[0055] FIG. 3 shows a calibration routine according to the state of the art.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0056] The detailed description set forth above in connection with the appended drawings, where like numerals reference like elements, are intended as a description of various embodiments of the present disclosure and are not intended to represent the only embodiments. Each embodiment described in this disclosure is provided merely as an example or illustration and should not be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments. The illustrative examples provided herein are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise forms disclosed. Similarly, any steps described herein may be interchangeable with other steps, or combinations of steps, in order to achieve the same or substantially similar result. Moreover, some of the method steps can be carried serially or in parallel, or in any order unless specifically expressed or understood in the context of other method steps.

[0057] In the foregoing description, specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art, however, that the embodiments disclosed herein may be practiced without embodying all of the specific details. In some instances, well-known process steps have not been described in detail in order not to unnecessarily obscure various aspects of the present disclosure. Further, it will be appreciated that embodiments of the present disclosure may employ any combination of features described herein.

[0058] Throughout this specification, terms of art may be used. These terms are to take on their ordinary meaning in the art from which they come, unless specifically defined herein or the context of their use would clearly suggest otherwise.

[0059] In FIG. 1, a system 10 for calibration management is shown, which comprises at least one measurement instrument 12 for testing a device under test (DUT) 14, e.g., an electronic device. The device under test 14 is connected with the measurement instrument 12, for example in a wired or rather wireless manner Hence, the device under test 14 may be connected to the measurement instrument 12 by components 15 like cable(s) and/or fixture(s). Accordingly, the measurement instrument 12 is enabled to test the device under test 14 according to a certain test routine in order to characterize the device under test 14 with regard to properties/characteristics.

[0060] The system 10 may further comprise a monitoring device 16 having one or more circuits. The monitoring device 16 is connected with the measurement instrument 12 such that the monitoring device 16 is enabled to collect parameters from the measurement instrument 12 during testing the device under test 14.

[0061] These parameters collected may include an uncertainty from a measurement of the device under test 14, a check of a golden standard used instead of the device under test 14, and/or a parameter defined in IEEE 370, namely a parameter used for electrical characterization of electric devices, for example scattering parameters or rather s-parameters integrity.

[0062] Moreover, the parameters collected may include a parameter associated with a movement of at least one component 15 connected to the measurement instrument 12 like cable(s) and/or fixture(s), a parameter associated with a movement of the measurement instrument 12 itself, a power on and power off cycle of the measurement instrument 12, an idle time of the measurement instrument 12, a usage time of the measurement instrument 12, an expected lifetime of the measurement instrument 12, a number of failed self-alignments of the measurement instrument 12, and/or a temperature profile of the measurement instrument 12.

[0063] All these parameters may be collected by the monitoring device 16 in order to monitor the measurement instrument 12 during testing the device under test 14.

[0064] The monitoring device 16 receives the different kinds of parameters from the measurement instrument 12 during the testing of the device under test 14, wherein the monitoring device 16 creates a calibration fingerprint based on the parameters collected. In other words, the calibration fingerprint is created based on various different methods used for obtaining the parameters.

[0065] The calibration fingerprint is indicative the calibration status of the measurement instrument 12 such that it is investigated whether a measurement instrument 12 is in a calibrated state or not. Furthermore, it can be derived from the calibration fingerprint when the next calibration of the measurement instrument 12 is necessary.

[0066] Moreover, the calibration fingerprint may be created based on trends and/or statistics of the parameters collected, thereby identifying a changing behavior of a certain parameter, for instance an increasing uncertainty.

[0067] In general, the device under test 14 is part of a measurement setup 17 that comprises the measurement instrument 12, the components 15 like the cable(s) and/or fixture(s) used for connecting the device under test 14 with the measurement instrument 12 and, optionally, further instruments that might be connected with the measurement instrument 12 (which are indicated by dashed lines in FIG. 1). All these different components/instruments/devices used for setting up the measurement setup may have an influence on the calibration status of the measurement instrument 12 for example the entire measurement setup, at the premises of the user. In other words, all these different components/instruments/devices may affect the calibration status of the measurement instrument 12.

[0068] The system 10 further comprises an interface 18 via which information can be outputted, namely information based on the calibration fingerprint created based on the parameters collected during the testing of the device under test 14.

[0069] The interface 18 may be a graphical user interface (GUI) that provides the respective information directly to a user of the system 10, namely in a visual manner. However, the interface 18 may also relate to a data interface that forwards the respective information to a subsequent system that processes the information obtained. In some embodiments, the interface 18 relates to a Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) interface. In the shown embodiment, the interface 18 is a graphical user interface that is part of the monitoring device 16.

[0070] The information is outputted in order to inform the user of the system 10 if a new calibration of the measurement instrument 12 is necessary or not. Further, information may be outputted via the interface 18 how the new calibration can be protracted such that more devices under test 14 can be tested by the measurement instrument 12 in the actual calibration interval, thereby postponing the next calibration.

[0071] Accordingly, the system 10 is a calibration management system configured to manage and schedule the calibration of the measurement instrument 12, as information is provided if the calibration is due (soon) and, optionally, how to postpone the next calibration while maintaining the measurement instrument 12 in its operational state.

[0072] The monitoring device 16 comprises a processing circuit 20 that receives the parameters from the measurement instrument 12 and processes them accordingly in order to create the calibration fingerprint that is indicative of the calibration status of the measurement instrument 12, for example the entire measurement setup 17 or rather the calibration status of the measurement instrument 12 with respect to the measurement setup 17.

[0073] Besides the parameters received from the measurement instrument 12, the monitoring device 16, for example the processing circuit 20, may (additionally) take environmental parameters into account like the environmental temperature and/or the environmental humidity, which may also have an impact on the calibration status of the measurement instrument 12.

[0074] In FIG. 2, a respective calibration routine is shown, which illustrates how the calibration of the measurement instrument 12 is managed, for example how the calibration fingerprint is created.

[0075] As shown in FIG. 2, parameters are collected from the measurement instrument 12 by the monitoring device 16 for each individual measurement of the device under test 14 by the measurement instrument 12. This is indicated in the first block of FIG. 2 by “1 measurement”.

[0076] Based on the parameters collected, the calibration fingerprint is calculated by the monitoring device 16, for example the processing circuit 20.

[0077] Then, the calibration fingerprint calculated is checked against a margin associated with the calibration fingerprint in order to verify whether the actual calibration fingerprint, which is indicative of the calibration status of the measurement instrument 12, is within the margin or not.

[0078] In case that the calibration fingerprint calculated is within the margin provided, no (re-)calibration is necessary and, thus, the next measurement can be performed.

[0079] In case that the actual calibration fingerprint is not within the margin, a (re-)calibration of the measurement instrument 12 is necessary (soon). This respective information is outputted via the interface 18 accordingly.

[0080] Generally, the respective check is also performed by the monitoring device 14, for example the processing circuit 20.

[0081] Further, FIG. 2 shows that a new margin is derived when the check is performed, which is to be applied for the next check, namely the check associated with the next measurement performed by the measurement instrument 12. Hence, the margin used for evaluating the calibration fingerprint is always adapted with respect to the real conditions.

[0082] Accordingly, a continuous optimization process is obtained, as the margin is continuously adapted to the real conditions. In other words, the calibration fingerprint is created for each individual measurement performed by the measurement instrument 12.

[0083] In a similar manner, the margin used during the internal check of the calibration fingerprint created is also adjusted continuously, namely after each individual check performed.

[0084] Thus, the entire system 10 provides a continuous calibration monitoring as well as calibration adaption, as the monitoring device 16 adapts the margin after each check.

[0085] In contrast thereto and shown in FIG. 3, the calibration routine was done in the prior art in a fixed manner, as the (re-)calibration takes place at a predefined time, e.g., every 3.sup.rd day at 9 AM, after a certain number of measurements has been performed irrespective of the current status of the measurement instrument 12 or rather the measurement setup 17.

[0086] As mentioned above, the system 10 for calibration management as well as the respective method of managing calibration of the measurement instrument 16 continuously monitor the calibration fingerprint that is indicative of the calibration status of the measurement instrument 12, wherein the calibration fingerprint is created for each individual measurement performed by the measurement instrument 12.

[0087] In order to determine whether the calibration of the measurement instrument 12 is necessary, the monitoring device 16 checks the individually created calibration fingerprint against a margin, which is also adapted dynamically after each check performed. Therefore, the margin used for evaluating the calibration fingerprint is adjusted to the real conditions. The adjustment may be based on deviation(s) determined during the actual check.

[0088] When checking the calibration fingerprint created against the margin, an urgency of the calibration can be determined. Hence, the monitoring device 16 may determine if the calibration is not necessary, if the calibration is necessary soon or if the calibration has to be done immediately.

[0089] Generally, the system 10 provides a continuous calibration monitoring, as the calibration fingerprint is continuously created for each measurement and checked against the respective margin for each measurement.

[0090] Besides the information concerning the calibration, test-specific information may also be generated and outputted via the interface 18.

[0091] The test-specific information may relate to a DUT-test specific information that can be used to create a DUT-specific performance sheet. The DUT-specific performance sheet may include a confidence level for the performance metrics and actual score. Hence, it allows to select certain DUTs for a customer who has a specification that the normal device does not meet.

[0092] Accordingly, the test-specific information is based on the device under test 14 to be tested by the measurement instrument 12.

[0093] Certain embodiments disclosed herein utilize circuitry (e.g., one or more circuits) in order to implement standards, protocols, methodologies or technologies disclosed herein, operably couple two or more components, generate information, process information, analyze information, generate signals, encode/decode signals, convert signals, transmit and/or receive signals, control other devices, etc. Circuitry of any type can be used. It will be appreciated that the term “information” can be use synonymously with the term “signals” in this paragraph. It will be further appreciated that the terms “circuitry,” “circuit,” “one or more circuits,” etc., can be used synonymously herein.

[0094] In an embodiment, circuitry includes, among other things, one or more computing devices such as a processor (e.g., a microprocessor), a central processing unit (CPU), a digital signal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a system on a chip (SoC), or the like, or any combinations thereof, and can include discrete digital or analog circuit elements or electronics, or combinations thereof. In an embodiment, circuitry includes hardware circuit implementations (e.g., implementations in analog circuitry, implementations in digital circuitry, and the like, and combinations thereof).

[0095] In an embodiment, circuitry includes combinations of circuits and computer program products having software or firmware instructions stored on one or more computer readable memories that work together to cause a device to perform one or more protocols, methodologies or technologies described herein. In an embodiment, circuitry includes circuits, such as, for example, microprocessors or portions of microprocessor, that require software, firmware, and the like for operation. In an embodiment, circuitry includes one or more processors or portions thereof and accompanying software, firmware, hardware, and the like.

[0096] The present application may reference quantities and numbers. Unless specifically stated, such quantities and numbers are not to be considered restrictive, but exemplary of the possible quantities or numbers associated with the present application. Also in this regard, the present application may use the term “plurality” to reference a quantity or number. In this regard, the term “plurality” is meant to be any number that is more than one, for example, two, three, four, five, etc. The terms “about,” “approximately,” “near,” etc., mean plus or minus 5% of the stated value. For the purposes of the present disclosure, the phrase “at least one of A and B” is equivalent to “A and/or B” or vice versa, namely “A” alone, “B” alone or “A and B.”. Similarly, the phrase “at least one of A, B, and C,” for example, means (A), (B), (C), (A and B), (A and C), (B and C), or (A, B, and C), including all further possible permutations when greater than three elements are listed.

[0097] The principles, representative embodiments, and modes of operation of the present disclosure have been described in the foregoing description. However, aspects of the present disclosure which are intended to be protected are not to be construed as limited to the particular embodiments disclosed. Further, the embodiments described herein are to be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive. It will be appreciated that variations and changes may be made by others, and equivalents employed, without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure. Accordingly, it is expressly intended that all such variations, changes, and equivalents fall within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, as claimed.