Intermittence

 

The most problematic failure mode that leads to a reduction in system reliability is a failure mechanism called intermittency, and this can manifest itself regardless of whether the unit has been previously tested as ‘good’.  However, all static testing methods, including some of those point to point tests performed by the IFD™ TE , as well as functional testing carried by the system's ATE, can only provide an insight into whether a unit conforms to a limited set of design parameters.  Little can be deduced, even from a perfect set of test results, about the UUT’s ability to maintain its present level of performance over an extended period of time.  Additionally, reliability estimates are developed using statistical means applied to failure rates collected over long time periods while the UUT is actually in use and are not based on a single point in time.  As such any intermittent failure will result in a degradation of the the Unit's reliability and more importantly affect the Units availability to perform when needed.  Detecting and isolating, and then fixing this failure mechanism at root cause is key in improving a Unit's in-service reliability and thus availability.

 

The Intermittence test is a revolutionary method of detecting and isolating circuit(s) which are responsible for random and temporary changes in ohmic characteristics.   A programmed DC voltage stimulus is injected into each connected and programmed test point, while simultaneously monitoring all test points for any slight changes or anomalies in current flow through the sensor elements of the hardware’s neural network.   If a change is detected, then the decoding elements of the IFD™ Technology pinpoints the failing connection and/or circuit and then:

 

 

While any capable testing system or method can detect an intermittent condition if it is of sufficient amplitude and duration on a single line, the IFD™ Technology is capable in detecting changes of just a few ohms persisting for less than 50ns across an entire system.  This revolutionary methodology, has been designed to ensure that there is no scanning, no digital averaging, no test dwell, and so no test gaps (or testing blind spots); thus providing fully test coverage on all the lines under test in the UUT all of the time, and in doing so, provides the User confidence that any intermittent fault goes is detected and isolated.

 

By looking for intermittencies well below most system failure levels, the IFD™ Technology can identify those defective connectivity elements that may pass normal testing parameters and generally be seen or experienced as No Fault Found.

 

All results are saved in csv or captured in pdf format for future post-test analysis.