Title:
Efficient Production Testing of High-Performance RF Modules and Systems using Low-Cost ATE

dc.contributor.advisor Chatterjee, Abhijit
dc.contributor.author Srinivasan, Ganesh Parasuram en_US
dc.contributor.committeeMember Anderson, David
dc.contributor.committeeMember Frieich Taenzler
dc.contributor.committeeMember Milor, Linda S.
dc.contributor.committeeMember Swaminathan, Madhavan
dc.contributor.department Electrical and Computer Engineering en_US
dc.date.accessioned 2007-03-27T18:24:33Z
dc.date.available 2007-03-27T18:24:33Z
dc.date.issued 2006-11-27 en_US
dc.description.abstract The proliferation of wireless communication devices in the recent past has increased the pressure on semiconductor manufacturers to produce quality radio frequency (RF) modules and systems at a low cost. This entails reducing their test cost as well, since the cost of testing modern RF devices can be up to 40% of their manufacturing cost. The high test cost of these devices can be mainly attributed to (a) the expensive nature of the RF automated test equipment (ATE) used to perform wafer-level and fully packaged RF functionality tests, (b) limited test point access for the application and capture of test signals, (c) the long test development and application times, and (d) the lack of diagnostic tools to evaluate and improve the performance of loadboards and test resources in high-volume tests. In this thesis, a framework for the efficient production testing of high-performance RF modules and systems using low-cost ATE is presented. This framework uses low-speed, low-resolution test resources to generate reliable tests for complex RF systems. Also, the test resources will be evaluated and improved ahead of high-volume tests to improve test yield and throughput. The components of the proposed framework are: (1) Genetic ATPG for reliable test stimulus generation using low-resolution test resources: A genetic algorithm (GA) based automatic test pattern generator (ATPG) to optimize the alternate test stimulus for reliable testing of complex RF systems using low-resolution, low-cost test resources. These test resources may be on-chip or off-chip. (2) Concurrent voltage/current alternate test methodology: A testing framework for efficiently testing the high-frequency specifications of RF systems using low-frequency spectral and/or transient current signatures. Suitable on-chip and/or off-chip design-for-test (DfT) resources are used to enable the source and capture operations at lower frequencies. (3) Loadboard checker: A checker tool to accurately characterize/diagnose the DfT resources on the RF loadboards used to enable test of RF devices/systems using low-cost ATE. (4) Advanced test signal processing algorithms: The performance of the low-cost ATE resources, in terms of their linearity/resolution, will be evaluated and improved to enable the accurate capture of the test response signals. en_US
dc.description.degree Ph.D. en_US
dc.format.extent 5069990 bytes
dc.format.mimetype application/pdf
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/1853/14113
dc.language.iso en_US
dc.publisher Georgia Institute of Technology en_US
dc.subject RF/mixed-signal DfT en_US
dc.subject Production testing en_US
dc.subject RF ATPG en_US
dc.subject RF testing en_US
dc.subject Low-cost test en_US
dc.subject.lcsh Integrated circuits Design and construction en_US
dc.subject.lcsh Integrated circuits Testing en_US
dc.title Efficient Production Testing of High-Performance RF Modules and Systems using Low-Cost ATE en_US
dc.type Text
dc.type.genre Dissertation
dspace.entity.type Publication
local.contributor.advisor Chatterjee, Abhijit
local.contributor.corporatename School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
local.contributor.corporatename College of Engineering
relation.isAdvisorOfPublication 01f2340e-40b6-449d-8f8a-80b6599c8ffb
relation.isOrgUnitOfPublication 5b7adef2-447c-4270-b9fc-846bd76f80f2
relation.isOrgUnitOfPublication 7c022d60-21d5-497c-b552-95e489a06569
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