Patent ID: 7395479

Claim:
Automatic test equipment adapted to execute a user program, the test equipment comprising a channel circuit having a signal connection point adapted to be coupled to a signal line of a unit under test to receive an input signal having a value, the channel circuit comprising: a) at least two comparison sub-circuits, each comparison sub-circuit having a signal input coupled to the signal connection point, a threshold input adapted to receive a threshold input signal having a value and a comparison output, and wherein each of the comparison sub-circuits is adapted to produce a comparison output signal at the comparison output having a value indicating the value of the input signal relative to the value of the threshold input signal; and b) control circuitry having at least two measured value inputs, each measured value input coupled to the comparison output of one of the at least two comparison sub-circuits, a test output and an over-voltage output, the control circuitry adapted to generate a test output from a first subset of the comparison output signals produced by the at least two comparison sub-circuits and to generate the over-voltage output from a second subset of the comparison output signals produced by the at least two comparison sub-circuits; and c) wherein the automatic test equipment is adapted to independently set the value of the threshold input signal for each of the at least two comparison sub-circuits based on the user program.