Precision Subnanosecond Delay Measurements of High Speed Digital Integrated Circuits

Precise measurements of high speed digital integrated circuit time delays have been performed by a frequency domain technique instead of direct time domain methods. Resolutions to 1 picosecond are possible with absolute accuracies approaching 10 picosecond. This method uses a PN data comparison with a spring loaded hold down test fixture. It can be used to test a variety of circuit types and can be applied in production environments.