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Project

Design for Sub-PPM Testability of High-Voltage Mixed-Signal and Analog Integrated Circuits

Semiconductor processing and packaging technologies inevitably result in the fabrication of a number of integrated circuits (ICs) that fail to perform as designed, right after production or throughout their lifetime. The field of IC testing plays the role of filter between the market demanding fully functional electronic devices and the non-perfect manufacturing of ICs. While testing itself is not perfect and therefore has test escapes, the requirements in applications like automotive are tightening, demanding sub-ppm escape rates that even must
approach the ppb level. This thesis investigates solutions to the problems of mixed-signal testing, especially automotive testing, that improve the quality of electronic devices reaching the end users.

The thesis starts with introducing the challenges encountered in mixed-signal testing and the gaps between digital and analog testing, which provide the motivations for this research. The introduced problems are addressed from different angles in different chapters. First, validated DC fault models for open defects are presented, aiming to solve the lack of complete validated fault models for analog circuits. Then, a very-low-cost and highly-parallel design-for- testability (DfT) technique is introduced, providing a structured solution to the low fault coverage problem of the analog circuits by increasing the observability. Finally, a light-based non-intrusive and fully parallel method increasing the controllability in analog and mixed-signal circuits is explored, which presents promising results at very low test costs. The proposed methods exploit DC tests because of their ease of generation and application. Both proposed methods are validated with real industrial circuits from the automotive industry. The advantages as well as limitations of the proposed methods are described in detail, taking into account the possible implementation into industrial production testing.

In conclusion, this thesis tackles the problems of today’s mixed-signal testing by proposing different solutions, which are validated on industrial automotive circuits. The findings of the thesis, however, can easily be extended to mixed-signal circuits in general.

Date:1 May 2014 →  5 May 2020
Keywords:Design for Testability
Disciplines:Nanotechnology, Design theories and methods
Project type:PhD project