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An Integrated Circuit tester (IC tester) is used to
test Integrated Circuits (ICs). We can easily test
any digital IC using this kind of an IC tester. For
testing an IC, we need to use different hardware
circuits for different ICs; like we need a
particular kind of tester for testing a logic gate
and another for testing flip flops or shift
registers which involves more complication and time
involved will also be more. So here’s an IC tester
to overcome this problem. Unlike other IC testers,
this is more reliable and easier since we don’t need
to rig up different kind of circuits for different
kind of ICs, each time we need to test them.
Unlike the IC testers available in the market today
which are usually expensive, this IC tester is
affordable and user-friendly. This IC tester is
constructed using 8951 microcontroller along with a
keyboard and a display unit. It can test digital ICs
having a maximum of 24 pins. Since it is
programmable, any number of ICs can be tested within
the constraint of the memory available. This IC
tester can be used to test a wide variety of ICs
which includes simple logic gates and also
sequential and combinational ICs like flip-flops,
counters, shift registers etc. It is portable and
easy to use.
The block
diagram of the programmable digital IC tester is as
shown in below. It consists of two 8951
microcontroller ICs, a 24-pin IC socket, a keyboard
unit, a display unit and indicators.
To test a particular digital IC, one needs to
insert the IC into the IC socket and enter the IC
number using the keyboard and then press the “ENTER”
key. The IC number gets displayed in the 7-segment
display unit.
Four LEDs are
provided as indicators. If the IC being tested is a
logic gate, then each of the 4 indicator LEDs
correspond to the 4 gates of the IC. In any other
case wherein the inserted IC is not a logic gate,
all the 4 LEDs work as a single indicator.
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