Power supply transient signal analysis under real process and test hardware models

Abstract

A device testing method called Transient Signal Analysis (TSA) is subjected to elements of a real process and testing environment in this paper. Simulation experiments are designed to determine the effects of process skew (obtained from measured parameters of a real process) on the accuracy of TSA in estimating path delays from power supply I/sub DDT/ and V/sub DDT/ waveforms. The circuit model is designed to test TSA under deep submicron process models that incorporate advanced parameters such as transistor V/sub t/ width dependencies. Modeling elements of a testing environment including the probe card are subsequently introduced as a means of evaluating the effects of tester measurement noise in an actual implementation.