A Workflow Model For Integrating IC Design and Testing

This paper outlines the challenges facing the domain of automated testing of mixed-signal integrated circuits and how these can be tackled by enhancing communication between the design and test engineers. An abstract workflow model is introduced for seem-less interaction of design and test teams, thus enabling faster work-flow and a greater redundancy in the correctness of communicated specification data. The latter is embedded into a systemlevel model and completely integrated into the process. A data-sheet integration methodology is briefly introduced with several application-level requirements and integration guidelines. The goal is to reduce the time for developing and running test programs, which is a major cost factor in the reducing life-cycles of mixed-signal devices. The paper emphasizes obstacles in current settings and suggests workarounds. 1