Comparison of sampling techniques for a parametric yield optimization algorithm

Abstract

Tolerances in component values will affect a product manufacturing yield. The yield can be maximized by selecting component nominal values judiciously. Several yield optimization routines have been developed. A simple algorithm known as the center of gravity (CoG) method makes use of a simple Monte Carlo sampling to estimate the yield and to generate a search direction for the optimal nominal values. This technique is known to be able to identify the region of high yield in a small number of iterations. The use of the importance sampling technique is investigated. The objective is to reduce the number of samples needed to reach the optimal region. A uniform distribution centered at the mean is studied as the importance sampling density. The results show that a savings of about 40% as compared to Monte Carlo sampling can be achieved using importance sampling when the starting yield is low. The importance sampling density also helped the search process to identify the high yield region quickly and the region identified is generally better than that of Monte Carlo sampling. © World Scientific Publishing Company.