Contactless testing: Possibility or pipe-dream?

The traditionally wired interfaces of many electronic systems are in many applications being replaced by wireless interfaces. Testing of electronic systems (both integrated circuits and printed circuit boards) still requires physical electrical contact through probe needles and/or sockets. This paper addresses the state-of-the-art, options, and hurdles-still-to-take of contactless testing, which would resolve many test challenges due to shrinking size and pitch of pads and pins and inaccessibility of advanced assembly techniques as System-in-Package (SiP) and 3D stacked ICs.