Data visualization in a fast data acquisition system for long-term reliability tests of microelectronic interconnections

In modern electronics one of the most important target is to make reliability tests shorter and more effective. To solve that problem, the novel fast data acquisition system was developed. It uses fast FPGA modules, a microcontroller for fast-response feedback and FPGA control as well as transmission of the data to PC over Ethernet protocol. Single test lasts for many days and produces large amount of data. It is necessary to acquire, store and visualize data in efficient way. There is no commercial product, which can handle multiple channel data acquisition and visualization over Ethernet protocol in real-time and provide very short response times. To improve quality of detection algorithms, there is a possibility to set-up custom triggers directly from visualization module. Software is written using only standard Win32 API, and is fully and compatible with all Windowsreg based PC (it is independent from specific OS version). Using this solution together with our propriety classes, it was possible to achieve very high efficiency and flexibility.The main advantage of using an Ethernet protocol in control system is a possibility of flexible, fast and reliable data transfer between multiple devices (measuring unit, control unit, storage unit) on existing network infrastructure (IEEE 802.1).