A uniform approach to mixed-signal circuit test

Abstract

Owing to the analogue nature of many industrial processes and the increasing use of microprocessor techniques, many circuits nowadays carry mixed (digital and analogue) signals. As complexities of these circuits increase, the testability of mixed-signal circuits has become an important issue that must be dealt with by both design and test engineers. A systematic approach to study the testability of mixed-signal circuits is urgently needed, because current ad hoc methods cannot efficiently handle increasingly complex and ever-changing circuits. In this paper we develop a uniform and systematic approach to the mixed-signal circuit testability problem. The approach is based on a recently developed theory of discrete event systems. It is suitable for the following tasks: (i) checking the testability of a circuits; (ii) computing the minimum test set; (iii) finding the fault coverage; (iv) dividing a circuit into testable modules.