Critical parameters for high-performance dynamic response measurements

The authors define several critical parameters required for accurate dynamic response time measurements on an ATE (automatic test equipment) system. They describe how these parameters were optimized on a high-performance pin electronics board through careful circuit design and a custom analog comparator IC design. They also outline the resulting performance of these parameters following the design changes. It is shown that the two key dynamic response parameters of an ATE system to evaluate are the overall system response bandwidth and the narrow-pulse performance parameters, as they include in their characterization almost all the critical dynamic response parameters. These two parameters, when evaluated on low-amplitude high-speed technologies, such as GaAs and ECL (emitter-coupled logic), provide the user with the clearest representation of a systems: dynamic response performance under actual operating conditions. When special attention is paid to these parameters in the design of an ATE system, as in the high-performance pin electronics card, a high-performance design capable of testing the most demanding high-speed technologies results