Overcoming Test Setup Limitations by Applying Model-Based Testing to High-Precision ADCs

Abstract

Test setup limitations, such as noise and parasitics, increasingly impede repeatable and accurate linearity measurements in high-volume production testing of high-precision data converters. Model-based testing has been shown to reduce the adverse effects of noise [14]. In this work, we present two enhancements of the linear model-based approach: one is a change of the modeling strategy in order to account for measurement errors induced, for example, by parasitics associated with the device contactor, and another is a Design-for-Test feature that significantly improves the model's ability to reduce the effect of measurement noise on the accuracy of the test outcome.