Analog Circuits Test by Using Principal Component Analysis

Abstract

In view of the difficulties caused by determining threshold for analog circuits test, a method based on principal component analysis (PCA) of node voltages was proposed to overcome these difficulties. At first, the principal component model of fault-free circuits was constructed. Then the circuits-under-test was compared with the principal component model to calculate the statistic for fault detection. The proposed method was used to test the output signal amplifying circuit, which is used in the ultrasonic liquid sensor. The testing results show that the PCA based method has a higher sensitivity than other test methods. And the proposed method can overcome the difficulties in determining threshold by the expert’s empirical knowledge. These make it a suitable candidate for analog circuits test.