Built-In Self-Test for the Analysis of Mixed-Signal Systems

Abstract

A new Built-In Self-Test technique called Selective Spectrum Analysis has been developed for the measurement of analog characteristics in mixed-signal circuits. This design utilizes digital components to generate and collect analog waveforms to measure both signal strength and phase shift through an analog circuit. These measurements can be used to determine the performance of the analog circuit. However, this design still requires a practical approach to be able to quickly and accurately obtain measurements on-chip. This thesis proposes improvements to the implementation of this Built-In Self-Test design. These improvements allow for the calculation of the results of these analog measurements on-chip. This thesis also introduces a program to automatically generate the hardware description language model required to fully implement this design in any Application Specific Integrated Circuit or Field Programmable Gate Array.