Power supply noise control in pseudo functional test

Abstract

Pseudo functional K Longest Path Per Gate (KLPG) test (PKLPG) is proposed to generate delay tests that test the longest paths while having power supply noise similar to that seen during normal functional operation. Our experimental results show that PKLPG is more vulnerable to under-testing than traditional two-cycle transition fault test. In this work, a simulation-based X'Filling method, Bit-Flip, is proposed to maximize the power supply noise during PKLPG test. Given a set of partially-specified scan patterns, random filling is done and then an iterative procedure is invoked to flip some of the filled bits, to increase the effective weighted switching activity (WSA). Experimental results on both compacted and uncompacted test patterns are presented. The results demonstrate that our method can significantly increase effective WSA while limiting the fill rate.