It has been found that testing an IC to the extremes of itsoperating range can cost-effectively flag abnormalities, signalling thatthe device has a higher potential of failing in the field. Productiontests that take an IC to the extremes of its normal operating range arecalled operating extremes tests. By using these tests, each IC ischecked at the limits of its operating capability by testing the ICbeyond the customer's specified parametric operating window. The premiseof operating extremes testing is that any IC residing outside a normaldistribution of the functional operating range is there through meansnot controlled or predicted, and thus represents a reliability risk. Theuse of operating extreme testing has been shown to be effective inreducing warranty rates and burn-in failures, and in eliminatingtemperature testing
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