Testing is an integral part of modern semiconductor industry. The necessity of test is evident, especially for low-yielding processes, to ensure Quality of Service (QoS) to the customers. Testing is a major contributing factor to the total manufacturing cost of analog/RF systems, with test cost estimated to be up to 40% of the overall cost. Due to the lack of low-cost, high-speed testers and other test instrumentation that can be used in a production line, low-cost testing of high-frequency devices/systems is a tremendous challenge to semiconductor test community. Also, simulation times being very high for such systems, the only possible way to generate reliable tests for RF systems is by performing direct measurements on hardware. At the same time, inserting test points for such circuits while maintaining signal integrity is a difficult task to achieve. The proposed research develops a test strategy to reduce overall test cost for RF circuits. A built-in-test (BIT) approach using sensors is proposed for this purpose, which are designed into high-frequency circuits. The work develops algorithms for selecting optimal test access points, and the stimulus for testing the DUT. The test stimulus can be generated on-chip, through efficient design reuse or using custom built circuits. The test responses are captured and analyzed by on-chip sensors, which are custom designed to extract test response features. The sensors, which have low silicon area overhead, output either DC or low frequency test response signals and are compatible to low-speed testers; hence are low-cost. The specifications of the system are computed using a set of nonlinear models developed using the alternate test methodology. The whole approach has been applied to a RF receiver at 1 GHz, used as a test vehicle to prove the feasibility of the proposed approach. Finally, the method is verified through measurements made on a large number of devices, similar to an industrial production test situation. The proposed method using sensors estimated system-level as well as device-level specifications very accurately in the emulated production test environment with a significantly smaller test cost than existing production tests.

Economic studies on simulated natural gas hydrate reservoirs have been compiled to estimate the price of natural gas that may lead to economically viable production from the most promising gas hydrate accumulations. As a first estimate, large-scale production of natural gas from North American arctic region Class 1 and Class 2 hydrate deposits will be economically acceptable at gas prices over $CDN2005 10/Mscf and $CDN2005 17/Mscf, respectively, provided the cost of building a pipeline to the nearest distribution point is not prohibitively expensive. These estimates should be seen as rough lower bounds, with positive error bars of $5 and $10, respectively. While these prices represent the best available estimate, the economic evaluation of a specific project is highly dependent on the producibility of the target zone, the amount of gas in place, the associated geologic and depositional environment, existing pipeline infrastructure, and local tariffs and taxes. Class 1 hydrate deposits may be economically viable at a lower natural gas price due largely to the existing free gas, which can be produced early in project lifetimes. Of the deposit types for which hydrates are the sole source of hydrocarbons (i.e. Class 2, 3, and 4 deposits), theoretical simulation studies imply that Class 2 deposits may be the most likely to be economically viable (with all else equal) due to assistance that removal of the underlying free water will provide to depressurization; thus $CDN2005 17/Mscf can be seen as a lower bound on the natural gas price that may render hydrate deposits economically acceptable in the absence of free gas. Results from a recent analysis of the production of gas from marine hydrate deposits are also considered in this report [6]. On a rate-or-return (ROR) basis, it is approximately $2008 3/Mscf more expensive to produce from a Class 3 marine hydrates than a conventional marine gas reservoir of similar size.

Submitted by Sandra Pereira (srpereira@ufrrj.br) on 2018-09-19T16:37:55Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2010 - Leandro Nogueira e Silva.pdf: 572924 bytes, checksum: fa1675478af792ae0da5d4e17ca86504 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-09-19T16:37:55Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2010 - Leandro Nogueira e Silva.pdf: 572924 bytes, checksum: fa1675478af792ae0da5d4e17ca86504 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-08-19 / Regarding the measurement of tear production, the technique of reading tear with a cotton soaked in a pH indicator solution has proven to be advantageous compared to Schirmer Tears Test in many studies due to the smaller width of the test material and time for attaining this , which leads to less reflex tear production and a closer reading of basal tear production or real. This experiment aimed to develop a quantitative measurement equipment in tear production similar to the ZoneQuick? Menicon and improve it, establish a pattern of reading to those and evaluate their advantages and disadvantages. For that, we selected 50 beagle dogs, male and female, aged 1-8 years from the Canil do Laboratorio de Quimioterapia Experimental Parasitol?gica of UFRRJ, and produced two tests with Cotton Thread with Phenol Red and Bromocresol Green. Afterwards was made the reading standization of those three tests compared to the Schirmer tear test, getting as normal range of reading for the tests with Cotton Thread with Phenol Red 13.6 to 22.7 mm/15seg., the ZoneQuick? Menicon of between 22, 7 and 37.8 mm/15seg. and tests with Cotton Thread with the Bromocresol Green 13.7 to 22.8 mm/15seg.. Among those three tests, the ZoneQuick? showed the smallest shift in color of the indicator and the largest Cotton Thread with the Bromocresol Green which along with the smaller standard error presented by this facilitates its reading and reduces the chance of false positive or negative. In a comparison between the Schirmer Tears Test , Cotton Thread with the Bromocresol Green tests and Cotton Thread with Phenol Red latter, generated less reflex tear production, with a reading closer to the real. / Em rela??o ? mensura??o da produ??o lacrimal, a t?cnica de leitura lacrimal com o fio de algod?o embebido em uma solu??o indicadora de pH vem se mostrando vantajosa em rela??o ao Teste Lacrimal de Schirmer I (TLS I) em diversos estudos, devido ? menor largura do material de teste e tempo de realiza??o deste, o que leva a uma menor produ??o lacrimal reflexa e uma leitura mais pr?xima da produ??o lacrimal basal ou real. Este experimento teve como objetivos, testar diferentes tipos de fios e avaliar qual o mais indicado a realiza??o dos testes, desenvolver um material de medi??o quantitativo da produ??o lacrimal de fio impregnado com vermelho fenol, testar outro indicador de pH, estabelecer um padr?o de leitura para estes e o ZoneQuick? da Menicon e compar?-los ao TLS I avaliando suas vantagens e desvantagens. Para isto, foram selecionados 50 c?es da ra?a Beagle, machos e f?meas, com idade variando de 1 a 8 anos do Canil do Laborat?rio de Quimioterapia Experimental Parasitol?gica da UFRRJ, e produzidos dois testes com Fio de Algod?o impregnados com Vermelho Fenol ou Verde de Bromocresol. Em seguida foi feita a padroniza??o da leitura dos tr?s testes em compara??o ao TLS I, obtendo-se como faixa normal de leitura para o Teste de Fio de Algod?o com Vermelho Fenol de 13,6 a 22,7 mm/15seg., o ZoneQuick? da Menicon entre 22,7 e 37,8mm/15seg. e o Teste de Fio de Algod?o com Verde de Bromocresol de 13,7 a 22,8 mm/15 seg.. Dentre os tr?s testes, o ZoneQuick? apresentou a menor viragem na cor do indicador e o Teste de Fio de Algod?o com Verde de Bromocresol a maior o que, juntamente com o menor erro padr?o por este apresentado, facilita sua leitura e reduz a chance de falso positivo ou negativo. Na etapa de compara??o entre os TLS I, Fio de Algod?o com Verde de Bromocresol e Fio de Algod?o com Vermelho Fenol este ?ltimo gerou menor produ??o lacrimal reflexa, com uma leitura mais pr?xima da real.

The proliferation of wireless communication devices in the recent past has increased the pressure on semiconductor manufacturers to produce quality radio frequency (RF) modules and systems at a low cost. This entails reducing their test cost as well, since the cost of testing modern RF devices can be up to 40% of their manufacturing cost. The high test cost of these devices can be mainly attributed to (a) the expensive nature of the RF automated test equipment (ATE) used to perform wafer-level and fully packaged RF functionality tests, (b) limited test point access for the application and capture of test signals, (c) the long test development and application times, and (d) the lack of diagnostic tools to evaluate and improve the performance of loadboards and test resources in high-volume tests. In this thesis, a framework for the efficient production testing of high-performance RF modules and systems using low-cost ATE is presented. This framework uses low-speed, low-resolution test resources to generate reliable tests for complex RF systems. Also, the test resources will be evaluated and improved ahead of high-volume tests to improve test yield and throughput. The components of the proposed framework are: (1) Genetic ATPG for reliable test stimulus generation using low-resolution test resources: A genetic algorithm (GA) based automatic test pattern generator (ATPG) to optimize the alternate test stimulus for reliable testing of complex RF systems using low-resolution, low-cost test resources. These test resources may be on-chip or off-chip. (2) Concurrent voltage/current alternate test methodology: A testing framework for efficiently testing the high-frequency specifications of RF systems using low-frequency spectral and/or transient current signatures. Suitable on-chip and/or off-chip design-for-test (DfT) resources are used to enable the source and capture operations at lower frequencies. (3) Loadboard checker: A checker tool to accurately characterize/diagnose the DfT resources on the RF loadboards used to enable test of RF devices/systems using low-cost ATE. (4) Advanced test signal processing algorithms: The performance of the low-cost ATE resources, in terms of their linearity/resolution, will be evaluated and improved to enable the accurate capture of the test response signals.

The thesis introduces the design of a test device for preassembled mechatronic cylindrical locks. The device is designed to test the mechanical and electronic parts which ensure minimisation of loss caused by poor preassembling or defect due to electronic parts. Since the defect will only come to realisation upon the complete product testing, the time of complete dismounting, exchange and assembly of the mechatronic parts would be saved and also time required for the final test of the whole product on the device would be saved.

The advent of deep submicron technology coupled with ever increasing demands from the customer for more functionality on a compact silicon real estate has led to a proliferation of highly complex integrated RF system-on-chip (SoC) and system-on-insulator (SoI) solutions. The use of scaled CMOS technologies for high frequency wireless applications is posing daunting technological challenges both in design and manufacturing test. To ensure market success, manufacturers need to ensure the quality of these advanced RF devices by subjecting them to a conventional set of production test routines that are both time consuming and expensive. Typically the devices are tested for parametric specifications such as gain, linearity metrics, quadrature mismatches, phase noise, noise figure (NF) and end-to-end system level specifications such as EVM (error vector magnitude), BER (bit-error-rate) etc. Due to the reduced visibility imposed by high levels of integration, testing for parametric specifications are becoming more and more complex. To offset the yield loss resulting from process variability effects and reliability issues in RF circuits, the use of self-healing/self-tuning mechanisms will be imperative. Such self-healing is typically implemented as a test/self-test and self-tune procedure and is applied post-manufacture. To enable this, simple test routines that can accurately diagnose complex performance parameters of the RF circuits need to be developed first. After diagnosing the performance of a complex RF system appropriate compensation techniques need to be developed to increase or restore the system performance. Moreover, the test, diagnosis and compensation approach should be low-cost with minimal hardware and software overhead to ensure that the final product is economically viable for the manufacturer. The main components of the thesis are as follows: 1) Low-cost specification testing of advanced radio frequency front-ends: Methodologies are developed to address the issue of test cost and test time associated with conventional production testing of advanced RF front-ends. The developed methodologies are amenable for performing self healing of RF SoCs. Test generation algorithms are developed to perform alternate test stimulus generation that includes the artifacts of test signal path such as response capture accuracy, load-board DfT etc. A novel cross loop-back methodology is developed to perform low cost system level specification testing of multi-band RF transceivers. A novel low-cost EVM testing approach is developed for production testing of wireless 802.11 OFDM front-ends. A signal transformation based model extraction technique is developed to compute multiple RF system level specifications of wireless front-ends from a single data capture. The developed techniques are low-cost and facilitate a reduction in the overall contribution of test cost towards the manufacturing cost of advanced wireless products. 2)Analog tuning methodologies for compensating wireless RF front ends: Methodologies for performing low-cost self tuning of multiple impairments of wireless RF devices are developed. This research considers for the first time, multiple analog tuning parameters of a complete RF transceiver system (transmitter and receiver) for tuning purposes. The developed techniques are demonstrated on hardware components and behavioral models to improve the overall yield of integrated RF SoCs.