Development of a remotely accessible integrated circuit test facility based on telepresence

This paper presents experiences learned from an ongoing research in employing telepresence technologies to facilitate an internet-based remote IC (integrated circuits) testing laboratory at R.I.T. An instrumentation server has been developed using National Instrument's Labview 5.0 to interface and control a number of GPIB-enabled lab instruments. By utilizing LabView's Open Reference VI (virtual instruments) client/server model, an authorized user can remotely execute the VI graphical interface to manipulate various lab equipment via the Internet. The system is designed mainly for remote inspection and testing of packaged integrated circuits. Multi-platform accessibility is a key objective when designing the client module, which consists of the graphical VI interface. Currently any user with a computer (Windows, UNIX, or Macintosh) that is capable of internet access, installed with a Java-enabled web browser, and has the ability to run Labview 5.0 will be able to access the networked lab equipment.