Method and apparatus for low cost signature testing for analog and RF circuits
First Claim
1. A method for testing of electronic circuits produced by a manufacturing process subject to process variations and characterized by a selected set of performance parameters, comprising the steps of:
- constructing a model for predicting said performance parameters for a first electronic circuit produced by the manufacturing process as a result of receiving the output of one or more second electronic circuits produced by the manufacturing process and stimulated with a selected test stimulus;
providing said output to said model;
obtaining a prediction of said performance parameters by use of said model;
measuring said performance parameters independently of said model; and
iteratively varying said test stimulus to minimize the error between said prediction and the corresponding measured values for said performance parameters, for determining an optimized test stimulus.
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Abstract
A low cost signature test for RF and analog circuits. A model is provided to predict one or more performance parameters characterizing a first electronic circuit produced by a manufacturing process subject to process variation from the output of one or more second electronic circuits produced by the same process in response to a selected test stimulus, and iteratively varying the test stimulus to minimize the error between the predicted performance parameters and corresponding measured values for the performance parameters, for determining an optimized test stimulus. A non-linear model is preferably constructed for relating signature test results employing the optimized test stimulus in manufacturing testing to circuit performance parameters.
40 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A method for testing of electronic circuits produced by a manufacturing process subject to process variations and characterized by a selected set of performance parameters, comprising the steps of:
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constructing a model for predicting said performance parameters for a first electronic circuit produced by the manufacturing process as a result of receiving the output of one or more second electronic circuits produced by the manufacturing process and stimulated with a selected test stimulus;
providing said output to said model;
obtaining a prediction of said performance parameters by use of said model;
measuring said performance parameters independently of said model; and
iteratively varying said test stimulus to minimize the error between said prediction and the corresponding measured values for said performance parameters, for determining an optimized test stimulus. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. An apparatus for testing of electronic circuits produced by a manufactoring process subject to process variations and characterized by a selected set of performance parameters, comprising:
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a computerized model for predicting said performance parameters for a first electronic circuit produced by the manufacturing process as a result of receiving the output of one or more second electronic circuits produced by the manufacturing process and stimulated with a selected test stimulus;
a device for iteratively varying said test stimulus; and
a computer program embodied in a machine readeble form and adapted to command said device to iteratively vary said test stimulus so as to minimize the error between the performance parameters as predicted by said model and corresponding measured values for said performance parameters, for determining an optimized test stimulus. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification