DFT Techniques for Mixed-Signal Integrated Circuits

This chapter presents several design methods that can be used to improve the testability of mixed-signal integrated circuits. This work will begin by outlining the importance of test and its impact on product cost and quality. Following this, we will look at the impact of manufacturing defects on the functional behavior of analog and digital circuits. Subsequently, we shall outline several common test strategies, and their corresponding test setups for verifying the function of the analog portion of a mixed-signal circuit. The remainder of the chapter will look at design-for-test methods that include several analog test buses, including the proposed IEEE 1149.4 test bus standard, and several built-in self-test methods. Microelectronics continues to pack greater functionality into smaller, lighter and denser packages. This has been driven for the most part by the need for faster digital computation and larger data storage. As an example, today over 5 million transistors are integrated onto a single monolithic substrate and accordin