High-Coverage AMS Test Space Optimization by Efficient Parametric Test Condition Generation

The characterization of analog-mixed signal (AMS) silicon requires a suitable pattern set able to exercise the parametric operational space to – among other tasks – validate the correct (specified) working behaviour of the device under test. As experience shows, most of the unexpected problems occur for very specific value combinations of a few test condition variables that were not expected to have an influence. Additionally, restrictions on the operational conditions have to be taken into account. We present a method to efficiently create a set of test conditions to cover such a constrained search space with a user-defined density. First, an initial test condition set is generated using quasirandom Sobol sequences. Secondly, we analyse the test conditions to identify and fill uncovered areas in the parameter space using the in-house interval constraint solver iSAT3. The applicability of the method is demonstrated by experimental results on a 19-dimensional search space using a realistic set of constraints.