Testing module, testing apparatus and testing method

1. A testing module for use in a testing apparatus, the testing module comprising:

a designation information storing section that stores thereon designation information designating an order of decoding fundamental patterns;

a fundamental pattern storing section that stores thereon the fundamental patterns in a data form;

a plurality of pattern generating sections each of which includes one or more memories and generates a test pattern to be supplied to a device under test;

a plurality of position information storing sections each of which stores thereon, in association with a corresponding one of the plurality of pattern generating sections, position information designating a read position from which the designation information is read from the designation information storing section; and

an information transmission path that is shared by the plurality of pattern generating sections, the information transmission path transmitting a part of the designation information from the designation information storing section to a designation information temporary storing section in each pattern generating section, wherein

each of the plurality of pattern generating sections decodes the fundamental patterns in an order designated by the partial designation information stored on the designation information temporary storing section.

2. The testing module as set forth in claim 1 , wherein each pattern generating section generates the test pattern to be supplied to the same type of device under test.

3. The testing module as set forth in claim 2 , further comprising a plurality of designation information control sections that are provided in a one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of pattern generating sections, each designation information control section (i) reading the part of the designation information stored on the designation information storing section from the read position designated by the position information stored on a corresponding one of the plurality of position information storing sections and (ii) storing the read partial designation information onto the designation information temporary storing section in a corresponding one of the plurality of pattern generating sections.

4. The testing module as set forth in claim 3 , further comprising an arbitrating section that arbitrates read requests generated by the plurality of designation information control sections to read the part of the designation information from the designation information storing section.

5. The testing module as set forth in claim 4 , further comprising:

a plurality of detecting and comparing sections that are provided in a one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of pattern generating sections, each detecting and comparing section (i) comparing an output pattern that is actually output from the device under test in response to the supplied test pattern with an expected value pattern that is expected to be output from the device under test in response to the supplied test pattern and (ii) detecting a failure when the output pattern does not match the expected value pattern; and

a plurality of result storing sections that are provided in a one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of pattern generating sections, each result storing section storing thereon failure information indicating a detail of a failure detected by a corresponding one of the plurality of detecting and comparing sections.

6. The testing module as set forth in claim 5 , wherein each result storing section stores thereon the failure information in association with a fundamental pattern from which the failure is caused.

7. A testing apparatus comprising:

a designation information storing section that stores thereon designation information designating an order of decoding fundamental patterns;

a fundamental pattern storing section that stores thereon the fundamental patterns in a data form;

a plurality of pattern generating sections each of which includes one or more memories and generates a test pattern to be supplied to a device under test;

a plurality of position information storing sections each of which stores thereon, in association with a corresponding one of the plurality of pattern generating sections, position information designating a read position from which the designation information is read from the designation information storing section; and

an information transmission path that is shared by the plurality of pattern generating sections, the information transmission path transmitting part of the designation information from the designation information storing section to a designation information temporary storing section in each pattern generating section, wherein

each of the plurality of pattern generating sections decodes the fundamental patterns in an order designated by the partial designation information stored on the designation information temporary storing section.

8. A testing method performed by a testing apparatus, the testing method comprising:

storing fundamental patterns in a data form;

storing designation information designating an order of decoding the fundamental patterns;

storing, in association with each of a plurality of pattern generating sections, position information designating a read position from which the designation information is read;

transmitting, through an information transmission path that is shared by the plurality of pattern generating sections, part of the designation information to each of the plurality of pattern generating sections;

temporarily storing the partial designation information in each of the plurality of pattern generating sections;

decoding, by each of the plurality of pattern generating sections, the fundamental patterns in an order designated by the partial designation information temporarily stored in the pattern generating section; and

generating, by each of the plurality of pattern generating sections, a test pattern to be supplied to a device under test.