Optimized Signature-Based Statistical Alternate Test for Mixed-Signal Performance Parameters

Accurate generation of circuit specifications from test signatures is a difficult problem, since analytical expressions cannot precisely describe the nonlinear relationships between signatures and specification. In addition, it is difficult to precisely control physical factors in built-in self-test (BIST) circuitry, which can cause errors in the signatures. This paper presents a novel methodology for efficient prediction of circuit specifications with optimized signatures. The proposed optimized signature based alternate test (OSBAT) methodology accurately predicts the specifications of a DUT using a strong correlation mapping function. Hardware measurement results show that this approach can be effectively used to predict the specifications of a DUT, with a significant reduction in the prediction error compared with previous approaches