ESD & Isolation: Review Checklist

Review checklist

Review Checklist for ESD & Isolation focuses on ESD path completeness, latch-up risk flags, isolation waiver backlog. The goal is to connect observed symptom to boundary mechanism, ownership, and signoff risk.

• Boundary assumptions are versioned and signed.

• Mode matrix (power/clock/reset/stress) is explicit.

• Physical context (floorplan/package/power) is included where relevant.

• Metric and artifact references are reproducible.

• Waivers have owner, expiry, and mitigation.

• Owners signed: ESD owner, AMS top owner, physical verification owner.

Sign-off ownership

OWNERSHIP MAP — ESD & Isolation

artifact                  owner
----------------------    -----------------------------
integration artifact    ESD owner
implementation artifact AMS top owner
signoff artifact        physical verification owner

Every boundary issue needs a named owner before fixes start.

AMS deep dive

Boundary assumptions must be explicit, versioned, and testable.

Concept diagram

BOUNDARY CONTRACT FLOW

analog intent -> boundary implementation -> digital wrapper -> signed review

Metric graph

BOUNDARY RISK MIX

missing boundary cells    ███████
stale handoff assumptions ██████
silent mode changes       ████

Reports and artifacts

• boundary-cell coverage

• isolation/ESD review

• handoff contract checklist

• integration waiver log

Mini case study

Noise bursts traced to missing isolation clamp on one low-power transition mode.

Debug branches

• Validate boundary-cell insertion

• Diff handoff assumptions

• Reproduce with tagged mode sequence

Senior review question

Ask: what boundary condition proves this topic is actually closed?

Key takeaways

• State boundary, mode, and evidence tag with every claim.

• Always align analog, digital, and physical owners before signoff decisions.

Common pitfalls

• Fixing averages while tails still fail.

• Skipping package/supply evidence in jitter or SerDes issues.

• Shipping with waivers that lack owner and expiration criteria.

Principal AMS review addendum

ESD and isolation structures create safe discharge and domain separation paths so transients do not propagate into sensitive digital flops or analog macros.

Metric: ESD path completeness, latch-up risk flags, isolation waiver backlog