Digitally-Assisted Analog/RF Testing for Mixed-Signal SoCs

We propose a testing methodology for analog and radio-frequency (RF) circuitry that incorporates digital circuits for performance calibration and adaptation. We explore the reuse of built-in digital calibration circuitry, along with minor digital design-for-testability (DfT) modifications, to test and characterize analog/RF circuit performance. By observing the digital tuning signals captured in the digital calibration circuitry, the analog/RF performance can be closely estimated, thus enabling cost-effective Go/No-Go production testing. In this paper, we illustrate this testing methodology using a case study of a digitally-calibrated Weaver image-reject receiver.