Abstract
We present industrial results of a quiescent current testing technique suitable for RF testing. The operational method consists of ramping the power supply and of observing the corresponding quiescent current signatures. When the power supply is swept, all transistors are forced into various regions of operation. This has as advantage that the detection of faults is done for multiple supply voltages and corresponding quiescent currents, enhancing in this form the detectability of faults. We found that this method of structural testing yields fault coverage results comparable to functional RF tests making it a potential and attractive technique for production wafer testing due to its low cost, low testing times and low frequency requirements.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
K. Arabi and B. Kaminska, “Oscillation Built-in Self Test (OBIST) Scheme for Functional and Structural Testing of Analog and Mixed-Signal Integrated Circuits,” in Proceedings International Test Conference, 1997, pp. 786 –795.
K. Arabi and B. Kaminska, “Oscillation-Test Methodology for Low-Cost Testing of Active Analog Filters,” IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, vol. 48, no. 4, pp. 798–806, 1999.
B. Atzema and T. Zwemstra, “Exploit Analog IFA to Improve Specification Based Tests,” in European Design and Test Conference, 1996, pp. 542–546.
M. Bekheit, D. Hamilton, and B. Stimpson, “Testing Analog Circuits with Binary Sequences: A Feasibility Study,” in 8th IEEE Int. Mixed Signal Testing Workshop, 2002, pp. 83–87.
A.M. Brosa and J. Figueras, “Digital Signature Proposal for Mixed-Signal Circuits,” in 2000 Int. Test Conference, 2000, pp. 1041–1050.
H. Manhaeve, J. Verfaillie, B. Straka, and J.P. Cornil, “Application of Supply Current Testing to Analogue Circuits, Towards a Structural Analogue Test Methodology,” in Proceedings European Test Workshop, 1999, pp. 51–56.
D. Mateo, M. Roca, F. Serra-Graells, and A. Rubio, “An Approach to the Analysis of the Current Testability of IC Analog Sections,” in Proceedings of the Second Asian Test Symposium, 1993, pp. 82–87.
S. Ozev and A. Orailoglu, “A.System-Level Test Synthesis for Mixed-Signal Designs,” IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems II, vol. 48, no. 6, pp. 588 –599, 2001.
M. Sachdev and B. Atzema. “Industrial Relevance of Analog IFA: A Fact or a Fiction,” in IEEE Int.Test Conference, 1995, pp. 61–70.
M.B. Santos, F.M. Goncalves, M. Ohletz, and J.P. Teixeira, “Defect-Oriented Testing of Analogue and Mixed Signal ICs,” in 1998 IEEE International Conference on Electronics, Circuits and Systems, vol. 2, 1998, pp. 419– 424.
S. Somayayula, E. Sanchez-Sinencio, and J. Pineda de Gyvez, “Analog Fault Diagnosis Based on Ramping Power Supply Current Signature,” IEEE Trans. On Circuits and Systems-II, vol. 43, no. 10, pp. 703-712, 1996.
P.N. Variyam and A. Chatterjee, “Test Generation for Comprehensive Testing of Linear Analog Circuits Using Transient Response Sampling,” in Int. Conference on Computer Aided Design, 1997, pp. 382–385.
P.N. Variyam and A. Chatterjee, “Specification-Driven Test Generation for Analog Circuits,” IEEE Transactions on Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems,” vol. 19, no. 10, pp. 1189–1201, 2000.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
José Pineda de Gyvez received the Ph.D. degree from the Eindhoven University of Technology. He is currently a principal scientist at Philips Research Laboratories, The Netherlands. Dr. Pineda was Associate Editor in IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems Part I and also Associate Editor for Technology in IEEE Transactions on Semiconductor Manufacturing. His research interests are in the general areas of design for manufacturability and analog signal processing.
Guido Gronthoud received the electrical engineering degree from the Delft University in 1975. From 1976 to 1980 he worked at the Delft University on the design of Microwave systems. From 1980 he works with Philips. He has been working in the fields of circuit simulation and modelling for IC designs, CAD development for PCB design and electronic circuits and systems reliability. Since 1998 he is working on test innovation of digital and mixed-signal circuits. His interests are Defect Oriented Test, fault modeling and Process Related Test. He has authored and co-authored technical papers.