Mixed-signal test

The test process for analog circuits currently focuses on performance verification, generally known as functional testing. For many classes of analog circuits, there are already well-known and accepted functional tests. However, the test development time and test set application time are too long for today's circuits. For new products, short product cycles and time-to-market are critical considerations. Test development time has two main factors: the presence of noise and a lack of powerful tools, models and practices. Besides, functional testing has been reported to fail in many system applications. Today, more often than before, there is a consensus that structural testing is a viable solution. A brief survey of the current trends and challenges in mixed-signal testing is given in this paper.