Result: Susceptibility scanning system as failure analysis tool for system level ESD problems
Further Information
"System level Electrostatic Discharges (ESDs) can lead to soft-errors (e.g., bit-errors, wrong resets). The goal of this project is to offer guidance in finding the root cause of soft-errors frequently observed using immunity scanning system. Immunity scanning is an increasingly adopted method for root cause analysis of system level immunity sensitivities. It allows localizing affected nets and ICs. At first a description of the ESD discharge process is given, which provides the necessary background for correctly analyzing ESD failures. Local scanning and in-circuit measurement techniques are expounded in this study. Further, it is shown how PCB scanning results can reveal local sensitivities, enabling the characterization and optimization of circuit and ICs design, as well as the design of software for minimizing unwanted responses to soft-error causing noise. Further, it can be used to compare the immunity of functionally identical or similar ICs or circuit boards. This thesis explains the methodology as applied to ESD and provides examples of scan maps and signals probed during immunity scanning. Limitations of present immunity analysis methods are discussed. The immunity scanning system developed is described. The thesis contains a description of the hardware components of the system including failure detection solutions for different types of devices under test. The description of developed scanning software including hardware control modules and graphic user interface is given"--Abstract, page iii.