Recent Advances in Analog, Mixed-Signal, and RF Testing

Abstract

Due to the lack of widely applicable fault models, testing for analog, mixed-signal (AMS), and radio frequency (RF) circuits has been, and will continue to be, primarily based on checking their conformance to the specifications. However, with the higher level of integration and increased diversity of specifications for measurement, specification-based testing is becoming increasingly difficult and costly. As a result, design for testability (DfT), combined with automatic test stimuli generation, has gradually become a necessity to ensure test quality at an affordable cost. This paper provides an overview of cost-effective test techniques that either enhance circuit testability, or enable built-in self-test (BIST) for integrated AMS/RF frontends. In addition, we introduce several low-cost testing paradigms including the loopback testing, alternate testing, and digitally-assisted testing that offer the promise of significant test cost reduction with little or even no compromise in test quality. Moving forward, in addition to screening the defective parts, testing will play an increasingly important role in supporting other post-silicon quality assurance functions such as post-silicon validation, tuning, and in-field reliability of system chips.