Low cost built-in-self-test centric testing

1. An Automatic Test Equipment (ATE) framework comprising:

a host controller configured to receive one or more inputs to initiate testing of a plurality of Devices Under Test (DUTs);

one or more tester units including a plurality of Universal Asynchronous Receiver-Transmitters (UARTs) communication links configured,

to send one or more commands for initiating and controlling a Built-in-Self-Test (BIST) in the plurality of DUTs, and

receive test output data of the BIST from the plurality of DUTs; and

the host controller further configured to output the test output data of the BIST; and

one or more Device interface Boards (DIBs) configured to couple a given type of the plurality of DUTs to the one or more tester units.

2. The ATE framework of claim 1 , wherein the one or more DIB includes the plurality of UARTs.

3. The ATE framework of claim 1 , further comprising:

a plurality of standard DUT connectors configured to couple the plurality of DUTs to the one or more DIBs.

4. The ATE framework of claim 3 , wherein the plurality of standard DUT connectors include Small Computer System Interface (SAS) communication links.

5. The ATE framework of claim 3 , wherein the plurality of standard DUT connectors include Serial AT Attachment (SATA) communication links.

6. The ATE framework of claim 1 , further comprising:

the plurality of DUTs including BIST circuits, wherein the BIST circuits are configured to,

receive, on respective ones of the plurality of UART communication links, the one or more commands for initiating and controlling the BIST of the BIST circuits,

generate test input data in response to the one or more commands for initiating and controlling the BIST,

execute the BIST of the BIST circuits, using the test input data to generate the test output data, and

send, on respective ones of the plurality of UART communication links, the test output data.

7. The ATE framework of claim 6 , wherein the plurality of DUTs include Serial Attached Small Computer System Interface (SAS) based Solid State Drives (SSD).

8. The ATE framework of claim 6 , wherein the plurality of DUTS include Serial AT Attachment (SATA) based Solid State Drives (SSD).

9. The ATE framework of claim 1 , further comprising:

a communication backplane configured to communicatively coupled the one or more tester units to the host controller.

10. An automatic test method comprising:

receiving one or more inputs to initiate testing of a plurality of Devices Under Test (DUTs);

sending one or more commands for initiating and controlling a Built-in-Self-Test (BIST) by a plurality of Universal Asynchronous Receiver-Transmitters (UARTs) of a Device Interface Board (DIB) on a plurality of serial communication links to the plurality of DUTs;

receiving test output data of the BIST by the plurality of UARTs of the DIB on the plurality of serial communication links from the plurality of DUTs; and

outputting the test output data of the BIST.

11. The automatic test method of claim 10 , further comprising:

receiving by a host controller the one or more inputs to initiate testing of the plurality of DUTs.

12. The automatic test method of claim 10 , further comprising:

outputting by a host controller the test output data of the BIST.

13. The automatic test method of claim 10 , thither comprising:

receiving the one or more commands for initiating and controlling the BIST by a respective UART of the plurality of DUTs;

generating test input data by respective ones of the plurality of DUTs in response to the received one or more commands for initiating and controlling the BIST;

executing the BIST on respective ones of the plurality of DUTs using the test input data in response to the received one or more command for initiating and controlling the BIST; and

sending the test output data by the respective UART of the plurality of DUTs on the plurality of serial communication links.

14. The automatic test method of claim 13 , wherein the plurality of DUTs comprises Serial Attached Small Computer System Interface (SAS) based Solid State Drives (SSD).

15. The automatic test method of claim 13 , wherein the plurality of DUTs comprises Serial AT Attachment (SATA) based Solid State Drives (SSD).

16. An Automatic Test Equipment (ATE) framework comprising:

a host, controller configured to receive one or more inputs to initiate testing of a plurality of Devices Under Test (DUTs);

one or more tester units including:

a plurality of Universal Asynchronous Receiver-Transmitters (UARTs) communication links configured to send one or more commands for initiating and controlling a Built-in-Self-Test (BIST) in the plurality of DUTs, and to receive test output data of the BIST from the plurality of DUTs;

a plurality of Processing Unit (PU) boards, wherein a given one of the plurality of PU boards of each of the one or more tester units are configured to implement an embedded Operating System (OS);

a plurality of Field Programmable Array (FPGA) test boards;

one or more drivers communicatively coupling the plurality of FPGA test boards to the plurality of PU boards; and

wherein the embedded OS is configured to communicate with the plurality of PU boards, communicate with the plurality of FPGA test boards, and communicate with the plurality of DUTs over the respective UART communication links; and

the host controller further configured to output the test output data of the BIST.

17. The ATE framework of claim 16 , wherein the plurality of FPGA test boards include the plurality of UARTs.

18. The ATE framework of claim 16 , further comprising one or more Device Interface Boards (DIBs) configured to couple a given type of the plurality of DUTs to the one or more tester units.

19. The ATE framework of claim 16 , further comprising:

the plurality of DUTs including BIST circuits, wherein the BIST circuits are configured to,

receive, on respective ones of the plurality of UART communication links, the one or more commands for initiating and controlling the BIST of the BIST circuits,

generate test input data in response to the one or more commands for initiating and controlling the BIST,

execute the BIST of the BIST circuits, using the test input data to generate the test output data, and

send, on respective ones of the plurality of UART communication links, the test output data.

20. The ATE framework of claim 16 , further comprising:

a communication backplane configured to communicatively coupled the one or more tester units to the host controller.