Analog IP Testing: Diagnosis and Optimization

In this paper we present an innovative methodology to estimate and improve the quality of analog and mixed-signal circuit testing. We first detect and reduce the redundancy in the electrical test measurements (e-tests), then we identify the e-test acceptability regions by considering performance specifications as well as process parameter distributions. Finally, we provide an effective metric for the accurate assessment of the parametric test coverage of embedded analog IP. Experimental results confirm the validity of the proposed methodology and its broad applicability to analog, mixed-signal and RF applications for different process technologies.