Concurrent Sampling with Local Digitization — An Alternative to Analog Test Bus
Nanqi Liu, Shravan K. Chaganti, Zhiqiang Liu, Degang J. Chen, Amitava Majumdar · 2018
This paper presents a Concurrent Sampling (CS) method for measuring a multitude of analog DC voltages concurrently using local digitization. Boolean results after digitization are routed in an IJTAG compatible fashion. Analog quantities are no longer routed across the die, thus overcoming several limitations of Analog Test Buses. Furthermore, the proposed method enables real-time measurement of analog voltages, thus addressing a growing need for Automotive test and reliability. The proposed method is applied to an analog circuit consisting of widely used analog blocks such as a bandgap reference and an operational amplifier. Transistor level simulation results demonstrate that the proposed method is functional and the drawbacks of the ATB are no longer present.