New ways to generate stimuli for measurements on sensitivity to supply variations

This paper presents three novel solutions for generating voltage stimuli necessary to assess the sensitivity of analog circuits to supply variations by performing laboratory measurements. The resulting test setups replicate the real-life operating conditions of the device-under-test (DUT), including the decoupling capacitors it may require. All three solutions are based on voltage regulators, both integrated and implemented with discrete devices. The setups can be realized by using only commercially-available devices, standard arbitrary function generators and oscilloscopes. Simulation and measurement results demonstrate that the proposed circuits can supply the DUT signals with user-defined shape and amplitude, and frequencies up to tens of MHz, added to the required DC voltage level.