Fully-Efficient ADC Test Technique for ATE with Low Resolution Arbitrary Wave Generators

This paper presents a technique allowing the test of ADC harmonic distortions with only low-cost ATE. Contrary to a classical DSP-based test that requires an arbitrary wave generator (AWG) on the ATE with a resolution at least 2 bit higher than the ADC under test, the proposed solution permits to test ADCs using same resolution AWG. The method involves an initial learning phase in which the characteristics of the AWG are extracted. These characteristics are then used during production test to discriminate the harmonic distortions induced by the ADC under test from the ones induced by the generator. Hardware experimentations are presented to validate the proposed approach.