Analog Test Bus Error Detection in Linear Analog Circuits
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for detecting and correcting errors in linear analog circuits often require additional hardware, impacting efficiency and layout, and struggle to effectively address both permanent and transient faults.
Innovation Solution
An analog test bus circuit (ATB) is integrated into the linear analog circuit to detect and correct errors using a control signal, facilitating analog checksum tests, built-in self-tests, and fault injection tests without adding extra circuitry, utilizing voltage-changing and voltage-impedance circuitry to selectively pass internal nodes and send correction signals.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If additional hardware is added for error detection and correction, then reliability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The analog test bus circuit is designed to perform multiple functions: it serves as both a functional bus for normal operation and a test bus for error detection and correction. The same physical infrastructure is used for both signal transmission during operation and for carrying test signals during testing, eliminating the need for separate dedicated test hardware and reducing overall device complexity while maintaining reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements built-in self-test and built-in fault injection test capabilities that allow the circuit to test itself without requiring external test equipment. The analog test bus enables the circuit to autonomously detect and correct errors, reducing the need for additional external testing hardware and simplifying the overall system architecture.
2Reliability
If traditional error detection methods are used, then reliability is improved, but ease of manufacture deteriorates due to layout constraints
Solution Approach 1:
The analog test bus shares the same physical layout infrastructure with the functional bus, allowing the same routing and placement to serve both operational and testing purposes. This eliminates the need for separate dedicated test signal paths, maintaining layout flexibility while achieving comprehensive fault detection capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The functional bus and test bus are merged into a single shared infrastructure. The same physical connections and circuit elements are used for both normal signal transmission and error detection/testing, simplifying the manufacturing process and layout design while maintaining reliable fault detection capabilities.
3Reliability
If redundant circuitry is added for error correction, then reliability is improved, but productivity deteriorates due to increased hardware overhead
Solution Approach 1:
The analog test bus enables error detection and correction functions to be performed using the same hardware infrastructure that supports normal operation. By avoiding dedicated redundant correction hardware and using the existing bus structure for both operation and testing, the system achieves high reliability without sacrificing operational productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs self-diagnosis and self-correction through built-in testing capabilities enabled by the analog test bus. This autonomous error management reduces the need for external intervention and dedicated correction hardware, maintaining high operational efficiency while achieving reliable error correction.
Data Source
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AI summary
An apparatus includes a linear analog circuit and data-check circuit. The linear analog circuit receives analog input signals and provides processed analog output signals. The linear analog circuit includes voltage-changing and voltage-impedance circuitry that perform processing of the analog input signals by the linear analog circuit and an analog test bus circuit (ATB) that selectively passes different ones of a plurality of input ports to at least one output port. A data-check circuit is communicatively coupled to the ATB and includes a data-processing circuit that detects an error conveyed by the linear analog circuit by applying a control signal, while the linear analog circuit and the data-check circuit facilitate testing of the linear analog circuit, to cause the ATB to selectively pass the different ones of the plurality of input ports.