ADC production test technique using low-resolution arbitrary waveform generator

Standard production test techniques for ADC require an ATE with an arbitrary waveform generator (AWG) with a resolution at least 2 bits higher than the ADC under test resolution. This requirement is a real issue for the new high-performance ADCs. This paper proposes a test solution that relaxes this constraint. The technique allows the test of ADC harmonic distortions using only low-cost ATE. The method involves two steps. The first step, called the learning phase, consists in extracting the harmonic contributions from the AWG. These characteristics are then used during the second step, called the production test, to discriminate the harmonic distortions induced by the ADC under test from the ones created by the generator. Hardware experimentations are presented to validate the proposed approach.