Abstract
True software-defined radio cellular base stations require extremely fast data converters, which can currently not be implemented in semiconductor technology. Superconductor Niobium-based delta ADCs have shown to be able to perform this task. The problem of testing these devices is a severe task, as still very little is known about possible defects in this technology. This paper shows an approach for gaining information on these defects and it is illustrated how BIST can be a solution of detecting these defects in ADCs under extreme conditions.