Incorporation of hard-fault-coverage in model-based testing of mixed-signal ICs

The application of the Linear Error Mechanism Modeling Algorithm (LEMMA) to various DAC and ADC architectures has raised the issue of including hard-fault-coverage as an integral part of the algorithm. In this work, we combine defect-oriented functionality tests and specification-oriented linearity tests of a mixed-signal IC to save test time. The key development is a novel test point selection strategy which not only optimizes the INL-prediction variance of the model, but also satisfies hard-fault-coverage constraints