Gloria Huertas

Practical oscillation-based test of integrated filters

Oscillation-based test (OBT) techniques show promise in detecting faults in mixed-signal circuits and require little modification. to the circuit under test. Comparing both the oscillations amplitude and frequency yields acceptable test quality. OBT seems especially appealing for filters but requires adaptation to handle monolithic circuits or the analog-core-based design of complex mixed-signal ICs.

Effective oscillation-based test for application to a DTMF filter bank

This paper deals with a case study applying oscillation-based testing to an industrial circuit. The aim of the presentation is to discuss a practical way of carrying out an effective implementation of the oscillation test technique as well as discussing guidelines for its application.

Testing mixed-signal cores: a practical oscillation-based test in an analog macrocell

A formal set of design decisions can aid in using oscillation-based test (OBT) for analog subsystems in SoCs. The goal is to offer designers testing options that do not have significant area overhead, performance degradation, or test time. This work shows that OBT is a potential candidate for IP providers to use in combination with functional test techniques. We have shown how to modify the basic concept of OBT to come up with a practical method. Using our approach, designers can use OBT to pave the way for future developments in SoC testing, and it is simple to extend this idea to BIST.

A practical floating-gate Muller-C element using vMOS threshold gates

This paper presents the rationale for vMOS-based realizations of digital circuits when logic design techniques based on threshold logic gates are used. Some practical problems in the vMOS implementation of threshold gates have been identified and solved. The feasibility and versatility of the proposed technique as well as its potential as a low-cost design technique for CMOS technologies have been shown by experimental results from a multiple-input Muller C-element. The proposed new realization exhibits better performance related to delay and area and power consumption than the traditional logic implementation.

On-Chip Evaluation of Oscillation-Based-Test Output Signals for Switched-Capacitor Circuits

This work presents a simple and low-cost method for on-chip evaluation of test signals coming from the application of the Oscillation-Based-Test (OBT) technique. This method extracts the main test signal features (amplitude, frequency and DC level) in the digital domain requiring just a very simple and robust circuitry. Experimental results obtained from an integrated chip demonstrate the feasibility of the approach.

Sine-Wave Signal Characterization Using Square-Wave and ΣΔ-Modulation: Application to Mixed-Signal BIST

This paper presents a method for extracting, in the digital domain, the main characteristic parameters of an analog sine-wave signal. It is based on a double-modulation, square-wave and sigma-delta, together with a simple Digital Processing Algorithm. It leads to an efficient and robust approach very suitable for BIST applications. In this line, some considerations for on-chip implementation are addressed together with simulation results that validate the feasibility of the proposed approach.

The Bio-Oscillator: A Circuit for Cell-Culture Assays

A system for cell-culture real-time monitoring using an oscillation-based approach is proposed. The system transforms a cell culture under test into a suitable “biological” oscillator, without needing complex circuitry for excitation and measurement. The obtained oscillation parameters are directly related to biological test, owed to an empirically extracted cell-electrode electrical model. A discrete prototype is proposed and experimental results with living cell culture are presented, achieving the expected performances.

A method for parameter extraction of analogue sine-wave signals for mixed-signal built-in-self-test applications

This paper presents a method for extracting, in the digital domain, the main characteristic parameters of an analogue sine-wave signal. The required circuitry for on-chip implementation is very simple and robust, which makes the present approach very suitable for BIST applications. Solutions in this sense are addressed together with simulation results that validate the feasibility of the proposed approach.

Practical solutions for the application of the oscillation-based-test in analog integrated circuits

This paper presents practical solutions for solving the problems arising when applying the oscillation-based-test to analog integrated circuits. It is devoted to discussing a practical on-chip evaluation of the generated test signals. The required circuitry is very simple and robust. Moreover, preliminary results obtained from an integrated prototype are also included.

Practical oscillation-based test in analog integrated filters: experimental results

This paper presents experimental results corresponding to the use of Oscillation-based Test (OBT) when applied to a switched-capacitor integrated filter. A universal biquad is used as an example to demonstrate the feasibility of the OBT technique.