The objective of this research is to investigate a new approach for the early detection of latent defects in electronic devices in the field. Reliability is assessed through the non-traditional approach of recording and evaluating the power profile of electronic devices within a deterministic state of operation. Traditionally, measuring the quiescent current (Iddq) of a device has been employed in manufacturing tests to detect defective parts prior to deployment to the field. However, the monitoring of the deterministic power signature (i.e. boot up or during a self-test routine) has never been exploited to monitor the health of a device in the field through out the full product life cycle. Critical to the success of this approach is the development of a viable, low-cost monitoring system that can capture a power signature in a digital format and provide a statistical comparison to previous signatures in order to detect deviations in quality from the device in question. Consideration for the engineering trade-offs between (1) improved sensitivity to reliability problems, and (2) reduced size and costare both taken into account in this thesis, along with a description of a developed platform that will be employed to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed approach through the capture of Digital Power Signatures (DPSs).
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