Assessing AMS-RF Test Quality by Defect Simulation

In safety critical applications, there is a demand for estimating defect coverage in order to meet stringent quality levels. However, defect simulation of complex AMS-RF circuits is computationally expensive since achieving a good confidence interval requires sampling many defects. In this paper, we show in practical cases of study that it is beneficial to complement defect coverage with fault coverage and assess the severity of defect escapes to get a complete picture of test quality. The computational burden of defect and fault simulations is taken into account and accurate statistical estimates of defect and fault escapes are provided to allow safe early stopping of the simulations.