A Novel ATPG Method for Capture Power Reduction during Scan Testing

Xiaoqing WEN  Seiji KAJIHARA  Kohei MIYASE  Tatsuya SUZUKI  Kewal K. SALUJA  Laung-Terng WANG  Kozo KINOSHITA  

Publication
IEICE TRANSACTIONS on Information and Systems   Vol.E90-D   No.9   pp.1398-1405
Publication Date: 2007/09/01
Online ISSN: 1745-1361
DOI: 10.1093/ietisy/e90-d.9.1398
Print ISSN: 0916-8532
Type of Manuscript: PAPER
Category: Dependable Computing
Keyword: 
scan testing,  capture power,  X-bit,  IR-drop,  

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Summary: 
High power dissipation can occur when the response to a test vector is captured by flip-flops in scan testing, resulting in excessive IR drop, which may cause significant capture-induced yield loss in the DSM era. This paper addresses this serious problem with a novel test generation method, featuring a unique algorithm that deterministically generates test cubes not only for fault detection but also for capture power reduction. Compared with previous methods that passively conduct X-filling for unspecified bits in test cubes generated only for fault detection, the new method achieves more capture power reduction with less test set inflation. Experimental results show its effectiveness.