Patent ID: 7453261

Claim:
A method of monitoring the functionality of a wafer probe site, the method comprising: partitioning a wafer into a plurality of sectors comprising predetermined semiconductor dies, wherein semiconductor dies from different sectors comprise different performance characteristics based upon the location of the sectors on the wafer; applying a multi-site probe of a wafer sorter to a plurality of semiconductor dies in a least one sector of the plurality of sectors; comparing a first failure rate of a first probe site of the multi-site probe with a second failure rate of a second probe site of the multi-site probe for a test of the plurality of semiconductor dies in the at least one sector during a wafer sorting process; and determining that a probe site of the multi-site probe is defective based upon comparing the first failure rate of the first probe site of the multi-site probe with the second failure rate of the second probe site of the multi-site probe and the location of the at least one sector during the wafer sorting process.