A BIST Approach to Approximate Co-Testing of Embedded Data Converters

Increasing complexity of integrated circuits (ICs) is making post-production tests expensive and cumbersome. Approximate testing can help alleviate these issues. The paper proposes a BIST based approximate testing approach for linearity testing of embedded data converters. The methodology does not require any external equipment and counts on the fact that most SoCs contain both ADC and DAC which can be used to test each other. The precision requirements for the signal source/measurement device are removed through an algorithmic technique. Simulation results demonstrate that INL estimation error using the methodology on a 14-bit DAC and 14-bit ADC is less than 0.7 LSBs across 100 random iterations of the DAC/ADC.