IoT: Source of test challenges

The semiconductor industry has been driving a major part of its growth through first the PC and more recently the mobile market. Unfortunately, the PC market is in decline and also the end of the growth curve for mobile products is in sight now that virtually everyone on the planet has a smartphone and/or tablet. Hence, the semiconductor industry is putting its bets on `Internet of Things' (IoT) as the next application wave that will allow them to sell a lot of silicon real estate. Although what exactly IoT encompasses is under definition and hence still volatile, the first emerging products depict an image which is quite different from the traditional microprocessors or smartphone SOCs: small but with ubiquitous presence, wirelessly connected, energy harvesting, equipped with smart sensors, secure, and low cost. All these aspects have a profound impact on the challenges, solutions, and associated trade-offs for testing IoT chips and provide rich grounds for research. This paper provides seven views from different angles.