US Patent 11513150 In-situ solder joint crack detection

A system detects cracks in solder joints on a printed circuit board (PCB). The system includes a device, a signal generator, a termination resistor, and a detector. The device includes a first contact and a second contact coupled to the first contact. The device is soldered to the PCB by a first solder joint at the first contact and by a second solder joint at the second contact. The signal generator has a test signal output coupled to the first solder joint. The termination resistor has a first terminal coupled to the second solder joint, and a second terminal coupled to a ground plane of the PCB. The detector receives a reflected signal that is a reflection of the test signal from at least one of the first solder joint, the second solder joint, and the termination resistor. The detector provides an indication as to whether or not at least one of the first solder joint and the second solder joint is cracked based upon a magnitude of the reflected signal.