Aligning component and system qualification testing through prognostics

There is a continual growth of test and validation in high reliability product applications such as automotive, military and avionics. Principally this is driven by increased use and complexity of electronic systems installed in vehicles in addition to increased end user reliability expectations. Furthermore product development cycles continue to reduce, resulting in less available time to perform accelerated life tests. Moreover, significant increases in test duration are observed as a direct result of raised reliability expectations. The challenge for automotive electronic suppliers in particular is performing life tests in shorter periods of time whilst reducing the overall associated costs of validation testing. The dichotomy is that reliability testing at the component level does not replicate the intended mission environment. Often this can result in disputes between component suppliers and end users. The focus for many component suppliers is on the thermal performance of devices, but real applications require other factors to be considered, such as manufacturing influences during circuit board manufacture and assembly, mechanical stresses and device interactions. Furthermore, previous work by the authors suggests that interconnect and system level reliability is significantly impacted by component layout and constraint points which are application specific [1] [2] [3]. In this paper, a review of suitable prognostic techniques is undertaken and an approach proposed in which reliability testing results at component level matches more closely that undertaken at system level.