Evaluation of signature-based testing of RF/analog circuits

Due to its low cost, low test time and reduced test complexity, structural testing is preferred to functional whenever possible. The study presented in this paper indicates that the two low-frequency structural test methods considered, power supply current monitoring and the power supply ramping technique, provide a valuable supplement/alternative when one of the functional tests (gain, noise figure and total harmonic distortion) in the test set can be complemented or substituted by structural test and add to or maintain no loss of fault coverage

Design methodologies for built-in testing of integrated RF transceivers with the on-chip loopback technique

Advances toward increased integration and complexity of radio frequency (RF) andmixed-signal integrated circuits reduce the effectiveness of contemporary testmethodologies and result in a rising cost of testing. The focus in this research is on thecircuit-level implementation of alternative test strategies for integrated wirelesstransceivers with the aim to lower test cost by eliminating the need for expensive RFequipment during production testing.The first circuit proposed in this thesis closes the signal path between the transmitterand receiver sections of integrated transceivers in test mode for bit error rate analysis atlow frequencies. Furthermore, the output power of this on-chip loopback block wasmade variable with the goal to allow gain and 1-dB compression point determination forthe RF front-end circuits with on-chip power detectors. The loopback block is intendedfor transceivers operating in the 1.9-2.4GHz range and it can compensate for transmitterreceiveroffset frequency differences from 40MHz to 200MHz. The measuredattenuation range of the 0.052mm2 loopback circuit in 0.13µm CMOS technology was 26-41dB with continuous control, but post-layout simulation results indicate that theattenuation range can be reduced to 11-27dB via optimizations.Another circuit presented in this thesis is a current generator for built-in testing ofimpedance-matched RF front-end circuits with current injection. Since this circuit hashigh output impedance (>1k up to 2.4GHz), it does not influence the input matchingnetwork of the low-noise amplifier (LNA) under test. A major advantage of the currentinjection method over the typical voltage-mode approach is that the built-in test canexpose fabrication defects in components of the matching network in addition to on-chipdevices. The current generator was employed together with two power detectors in arealization of a built-in test for a LNA with 14% layout area overhead in 0.13µm CMOStechnology (<1.5% for the 0.002mm2 current generator). The post-layout simulationresults showed that the LNA gain (S21) estimation with the external matching networkwas within 3.5% of the actual gain in the presence of process-voltage-temperaturevariations and power detector imprecision

Test estructural i predictiu per a circuits RF CMOS

En aquesta tesi s’ha desenvolupat una tècnica de test que permet testar un LNA i un mesclador, situats en el capçal RF d’un receptor CMOS, en una configuració de test semblant al mode normal de funcionament. La circuiteria necessària per a implementar aquesta tècnica consta d’un generador IF, per a generar el senyal IF de test, i d’un mesclador auxiliar, per a obtenir el senyal RF de test. Les observables de test escollides han estat l’amplitud de la tensió de sortida del mesclador i el component DC del corrent de consum. S’ha estudiat l’eficàcia de la tècnica de test proposada utilitzant les estratègies de test estructural i predictiu, mitjançant simulacions i mesures experimentals. La seva eficàcia és comparable a altres tècniques de test existents, però l’àrea addicional dedicada a la circuiteria test és inferior.En esta tesis se ha desarrollado una técnica de test que permite verificar un LNA y un mezclador, situados en el cabezal RF de un receptor CMOS, en una configuración de test similar al modo normal de funcionamiento. Los circuitos necesarios para implementar esta técnica son: un generador IF, que permite generar la señal IF de test, y un mezclador auxiliar, para obtener la señal RF de test. Las observables de test seleccionadas han sido la amplitud de la tensión de salida y la componente DC de la corriente de consumo. Se ha estudiado la eficacia de la técnica propuesta usando las estrategias de test estructural y predictiva, mediante simulaciones y medidas experimentales. Su eficacia es comparable a otras técnicas existentes, pero el área dedicada a la circuiteria de test es inferior.This PhD thesis develops a test technique intended for the RF front end of CMOS integrated receivers. This test technique allows testing individually the building blocks of the receiver in a sequential way. The test mode configuration of each block is similar to the normal mode operation. The auxiliary circuitry required to generate the test stimuli consists of an IF generator, which generates the IF test signal, and an auxiliary mixer that produces the RF test signal by mixing the IF test signal with the local oscillator signal. The test observables selected for the test are the voltage amplitude after the IF amplifier, and the DC component of the supply current in each block. The capability of the proposed test technique to perform structural and predictive test strategies has been validated by simulation and experimentally. Its efficiency is comparable to other existing techniques, but the silicon area overhead is lower

Max Operation in Statistical Static Timing Analysis on the Non-Gaussian Variation Sources for VLSI Circuits

As CMOS technology continues to scale down, process variation introduces significant uncertainty in power and performance to VLSI circuits and significantly affects their reliability. If this uncertainty is not properly handled, it may become the bottleneck of CMOS technology improvement. As a result, deterministic analysis is no longer conservative and may result in either overestimation or underestimation of the circuit delay. As we know that Static-Timing Analysis (STA) is a deterministic way of computing the delay imposed by the circuits design and layout. It is based on a predetermined set of possible events of process variations, also called corners of the circuit. Although it is an excellent tool, current trends in process scaling have imposed significant difficulties to STA. Therefore, there is a need for another tool, which can resolve the aforementioned problems, and Statistical Static Timing Analysis (SSTA) has become the frontier research topic in recent years in combating such variation effects. There are two types of SSTA methods, path-based SSTA and block-based SSTA. The goal of SSTA is to parameterize timing characteristics of the timing graph as a function of the underlying sources of process parameters that are modeled as random variables. By performing SSTA, designers can obtain the timing distribution (yield) and its sensitivity to various process parameters. Such information is of tremendous value for both timing sign-off and design optimization for robustness and high profit margins. The block-based SSTA is the most efficient SSTA method in recent years. In block-based SSTA, there are two major atomic operations max and add. The add operation is simple; however, the max operation is much more complex. There are two main challenges in SSTA. The Topological Correlation that emerges from reconvergent paths, these are the ones that originate from a common node and then converge again at another node (reconvergent node). Such correlation complicates the maximum operation. The second challenge is the Spatial Correlation. It arises due to device proximity on the die and gives rise to the problems of modeling delay and arrival time. This dissertation presents statistical Nonlinear and Nonnormals canonical form of timing delay model considering process variation. This dissertation is focusing on four aspects: (1) Statistical timing modeling and analysis; (2) High level circuit synthesis with system level statistical static timing analysis; (3) Architectural implementations of the atomic operations (max and add); and (4) Design methodology. To perform statistical timing modeling and analysis, we first present an efficient and accurate statistical static timing analysis (SSTA) flow for non-linear cell delay model with non-Gaussian variation sources. To achieve system level SSTA we apply statistical timing analysis to high-level synthesis flow, and develop yield driven synthesis framework so that the impact of process variations is taken into account during high-level synthesis. To accomplish architectural implementation, we present the vector thread architecture for max operator to minimize delay and variation. Finally, we present comparison analysis with ISCAS benchmark circuits suites. In the last part of this dissertation, a SSTA design methodology is presented

Development of Robust Analog and Mixed-Signal Circuits in the Presence of Process- Voltage-Temperature Variations

Continued improvements of transceiver systems-on-a-chip play a key role in the advancement of mobile telecommunication products as well as wireless systems in biomedical and remote sensing applications. This dissertation addresses the problems of escalating CMOS process variability and system complexity that diminish the reliability and testability of integrated systems, especially relating to the analog and mixed-signal blocks. The proposed design techniques and circuit-level attributes are aligned with current built-in testing and self-calibration trends for integrated transceivers. In this work, the main focus is on enhancing the performances of analog and mixed-signal blocks with digitally adjustable elements as well as with automatic analog tuning circuits, which are experimentally applied to conventional blocks in the receiver path in order to demonstrate the concepts. The use of digitally controllable elements to compensate for variations is exemplified with two circuits. First, a distortion cancellation method for baseband operational transconductance amplifiers is proposed that enables a third-order intermodulation (IM3) improvement of up to 22dB. Fabricated in a 0.13µm CMOS process with 1.2V supply, a transconductance-capacitor lowpass filter with the linearized amplifiers has a measured IM3 below -70dB (with 0.2V peak-to-peak input signal) and 54.5dB dynamic range over its 195MHz bandwidth. The second circuit is a 3-bit two-step quantizer with adjustable reference levels, which was designed and fabricated in 0.18µm CMOS technology as part of a continuous-time SigmaDelta analog-to-digital converter system. With 5mV resolution at a 400MHz sampling frequency, the quantizer's static power dissipation is 24mW and its die area is 0.4mm^2. An alternative to electrical power detectors is introduced by outlining a strategy for built-in testing of analog circuits with on-chip temperature sensors. Comparisons of an amplifier's measurement results at 1GHz with the measured DC voltage output of an on-chip temperature sensor show that the amplifier's power dissipation can be monitored and its 1-dB compression point can be estimated with less than 1dB error. The sensor has a tunable sensitivity up to 200mV/mW, a power detection range measured up to 16mW, and it occupies a die area of 0.012mm^2 in standard 0.18µm CMOS technology. Finally, an analog calibration technique is discussed to lessen the mismatch between transistors in the differential high-frequency signal path of analog CMOS circuits. The proposed methodology involves auxiliary transistors that sense the existing mismatch as part of a feedback loop for error minimization. It was assessed by performing statistical Monte Carlo simulations of a differential amplifier and a double-balanced mixer designed in CMOS technologies

Evaluation of signature-based testing of RF/analog circuits

Due to its low cost, low test time and reduced test complexity, structural testing is preferred to functional whenever possible. The study presented in this paper indicates that the two low-frequency structural test methods considered, power supply current monitoring and the power supply ramping technique, provide a valuable supplement/alternative when one of the functional tests (gain, noise figure and total harmonic distortion) in the test set can be complemented or substituted by structural test and add to or maintain no loss of fault coverage

Evaluation of signature-based testing of RF/analog circuits

Due to its low cost, low test time and reduced test complexity, structural testing is preferred to functional whenever possible. The study presented in this paper indicates that the two low-frequency structural test methods considered, power supply current monitoring and the power supply ramping technique, provide a valuable supplement/alternative when one of the functional tests (gain, noise figure and total harmonic distortion) in the test set can be complemented or substituted by structural test and add to or maintain no loss of fault coverage