Digital to analog converters test based on time to voltage conversion

The paper deals with a low cost measurement station for DAC dynamic characterization. The characterization method is based on the estimate of the DAC output voltage through the measurement of time intervals. These are performed by the DSP, which evaluates the time between two edges of the input signal. A proper system has been implemented with the aim of conditioning the DAC output signal in order to obtain a resulting square shaped signal with width proportional to the DAC output voltage. The advantages of the method are: (i) DAC voltages estimated by means of time interval measurements, this permits to obtain higher resolution respect to amplitude measurements; (ii) measurement set up characterized by limited size and costs, this supports the realize of BIST (built-in self-test) system.