Testing Analog and Mixed Signal Circuits With Built In Hardware Research Paper

Testing Analog and Mixed Signal Circuits With Built In Hardware - Research Paper Example Before beginning definite manufacturing of high-volume products, the testing, designing, assessment of the prototypes are important. Furthermore, the comprehensive inspection of the manufactured products must be done in order to ensure the availability of high quality and defect free product. Eventually the cost of the product can be minimized by providing the required information during the manufacturing process. The fabrication procedure of the integrated-circuit (IC) comprises doping steps, etching, printing and photolithography. The reason for the collapse of an individual integrated-circuit (IC) is the imperfect steps related to the fabrication process. Above all, the mixed-signal ICs are more responsive towards steps imperfections thus, resulting in low performance of circuits. However, these imperfections are insignificant in the digital - circuit domain but as compared to the mixed-signal circuits, imperfections among the traces in structure of small capacitance can cause a significant change in the circuit performance. For this reason, the sensitivity behavior of the circuit also improved due to the reduction of the circuit geometry. Hence, before shipping it to the customers every single IC is being thoroughly checked. This priority testing of ICs enhances the final quality of the product without affecting its brilliance. In addition, this quality check also ensures the excellence of the product and its design, during the key phase of the product development once put into practice. The detailed and long tests are being performed during the process of implementation of the ICs due to the small imperfection of the high sensitivity of mixed-signal circuits resulting in the high testing cost. Now researchers are looking forward to merge the testing process of both analog and the digital-circuit via analog signals to divert digital circuits or by utilizing digital signals for example, serial bit stream in order to divert the analog signals. The analog-test methods are not fully developed, therefore restricted access is suffered by mixed-signal specially; the shrinking dimensions with the high integration densities in the development of semi-conductor technology. On the other hand, the test systems related to the digital devices are well maintained and developed. However, the benefits are taken from the advancement and knowledge of digital-test by the analog and mixe d-signal test, because they are far away from the latest development regarding testing procedures. Another reason for the failure of the analog testing system is the deficiency of the implementation of a testing procedure for example, Standard Fault Model, however, approximately all the digital test methods rely on stuck-fault model thus, with the help of their fault reporting, the test generation algorithms are estimated. This model is simply accepted for the functional test as compared to the performance test, it is not accepted. The sources of complexity during the testing procedures of analog