On Using Twisted-Ring Counters for Test Set Embedding in BIST

We present a novel built-in self-test (BIST) architecture for high-performance circuits. The proposed approach is especially suitable for embedding precomputed test sets for core-based systems since it does not require a structural model of the circuit, either for fault simulation or for test generation. It utilizes a twisted-ring counter (TRC) for test-per-clock BIST and is appropriate for high-performance designs because it does not add any mapping logic to critical functional paths. Test patterns are generated on-chip by carefully reseeding the TRC. We show that a small number of seeds is adequate for generating test sequences that embed complete test sets for the ISCAS benchmark circuits.Instead of being stored on-chip, the seed patterns can also be scanned in using a low-cost, slower tester. The seeds can be viewed as an encoded version of the test set that is stored in tester memory. This requires almost 10X less memory than compacted test sets obtained from ATPG programs. This allows us to effectively combine high-quality BIST with external testing using slow testers. As the cost of high-speed testers increases, methodologies that facilitate testing using slow testers become especially important. The proposed approach is a step in that direction.     

A Ring Architecture Strategy for BIST Test Pattern Generation

This paper presents a new effective Built-In Self Test (BIST) scheme that achieves 100% fault coverage with low area overhead, and without any modification of the circuit under test (CUT), i.e., no test point insertion. The set of patterns generated by a pseudo-random pattern generator, e.g. a Linear Feedback Shift Register (LFSR), is transformed into a new set of patterns that provides the desired fault coverage. To transform these patterns, a ring architecture composed by a set of masks is used. During on-chip test pattern generation, each mask is successively selected to map the original pattern sequence into a new test sequence. We describe an efficient algorithm that constructs a ring of masks from the test cubes provided by an automatic test pattern generator (ATPG) tool. Moreover, we show that rings of masks are implemented very easily at low silicon area cost, without requiring any logic synthesis tool; a combinational mapping logic corresponding to the masks is placed between the LFSR and the CUT, together with a looped shift register that acts as a mask selecting circuit. Experimental results are given at the end of the paper, demonstrating the effectiveness of the proposed approach in terms of area overhead, fault coverage and test sequence length. Note that this paper is an extended version of [1].     

A current based self-test methodology for RF front-end circuits

This paper presents a critical step in the realization of a robust, low overhead, current-based Built-In Self-Test (BIST) scheme for RF front-end circuits. The proposed approach involves sampling the high frequency supply current drawn by the circuit under test (CUT) and using it to extract information about various performance metrics of the RF CUT. The technique has inherently high fault coverage and can handle soft faults, hard faults as well as concurrent faults because it shifts the emphasis from detecting individual faults, to quantifying all the significant performance specifications of the CUT. This work also presents the realization of an HF current monitor which is a critical component in the proposed architecture. The current monitor has then been interfaced with three standard RF front-end circuits; a Low noise amplifier, a Single Balanced Mixer and a Voltage controlled oscillator, while minimally impacting their performance. The extracted information has then been used to create a mapping between variations in CUT performance and the sensed current spectrum. The monitor circuit has been fabricated in the IBM 6 metal, RF CMOS process, with a gain of 24 db and bandwidth of 3.9 GHz.     

Precomputation-based sequential logic optimization for low power

We address the problem of optimizing logic-level sequential circuits for low power. We present a powerful sequential logic optimization method that is based on selectively precomputing the output logic values of the circuit one clock cycle before they are required, and using the precomputed values to reduce internal switching activity in the succeeding clock cycle. We present two different precomputation architectures which exploit this observation. The primary optimization step is the synthesis of the precomputation logic, which computes the output values for a subset of input conditions. If the output values can be precomputed, the original logic circuit can be “turned off” in the next clock cycle and will have substantially reduced switching activity. The size of the precomputation logic determines the power dissipation reduction, area increase and delay increase relative to the original circuit. Given a logic-level sequential circuit, we present an automatic method of synthesizing precomputation logic so as to achieve maximal reductions in power dissipation. We present experimental results on various sequential circuits. Up to 75% reductions in average switching activity and power dissipation are possible with marginal increases in circuit area and delay     

A multibit test trigger circuit for megabit SRAMs

A multibit test (MBT) trigger circuit for megabit SRAM packages with no unused pins is discussed. The features of the MBT trigger circuit are a logic trigger mode without using any additional pins and practical use of counter circuits. The essence of trigger mode selection is that two pulses are for MBT set and three pulses are for MBT reset. In this way, a logic trigger mode that does not use NC pins is especially effective as a 4-Mb SRAM. In addition, the proposed scheme is able to act as a logic trigger for an MBT circuit. The scheme is simple and effective. The logic trigger mode is proposed for future standardization     

Deterministic Built-in Pattern Generation for Sequential Circuits

We present a new pattern generation approach for deterministic built-in self testing (BIST) of sequential circuits. Our approach is based on precomputed test sequences, and is especially suited to sequential circuits that contain a large number of flip-flops but relatively few controllable primary inputs. Such circuits, often encountered as embedded cores and as filters for digital signal processing, are difficult to test and require long test sequences. We show that statistical encoding of precomputed test sequences can be combined with low-cost pattern decoding to provide deterministic BIST with practical levels of overhead. Optimal Huffman codes and near-optimal Comma codes are especially useful for test set encoding. This approach exploits recent advances in automatic test pattern generation for sequential circuits and, unlike other BIST schemes, does not require access to a gate-level model of the circuit under test. It can be easily automated and integrated with design automation tools. Experimental results for the ISCAS 89 benchmark circuits show that the proposed method provides higher fault coverage than pseudorandom testing with shorter test application time and low to moderate hardware overhead.     

Selection of Input Stimulus for Fault Diagnosis of Analog Circuits Using ARMA Model

The paper addresses the problem of fault diagnosis of analog circuits based on dictionary approach. The proposed approach first identifies an adequate set of test frequencies to optimize the process of detection and isolation of simulated fault scenarios. The circuit under test (CUT) is then excited by an input stimulus composed of a set of sinusoidal waveforms with the selected test frequencies. The circuit response, at different fault scenarios, is preprocessed by an autoregressive moving average (ARMA) model to yield a set of features formulating the fault dictionary. Collected features are utilized to train and test a back-propagation (BP) neural network (NN) based classifier. Demonstrative results from soft fault simulation of two active circuit examples prove the excellent effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.     

基于分数阶相关的模拟集成电路软故障诊断* Deng Yong(邓勇), Shi Yibing(师奕兵)and Zhang Wei(张伟)

针对模拟集成电路软故障诊断的难题,提出了基于分数阶相关的方法。首先,利用分数阶小波包将待测试电路(CUT)的Volterra级数进行分解,计算出分数阶相关函数。然后,用得到的分数阶相关函数构造出待测试电路的故障特征。通过对故障特征的比较,可以将待测试电路的各种软故障状态进行辨识并对故障实现定位。标准电路的仿真实验描述了这一方法并验证了该方法对模拟集成电路软故障诊断的有效性。     

Analog Circuits Fault Detection Using Cross-Entropy Approach

This paper presents a novel method that can detect component faults in analog circuits. Because the probability density function (PDF) of output voltage (current) is sensitive to the components of the circuit, the cross-entropy between the good circuit and the bad circuit is employed to detect component faults in analog circuits based on the autoregressive (AR) model. In the proposed approach, the value of each component of the circuit undertest (CUT) is varied within its tolerance limit using Monte Carlo simulation. The minimal and maximal bounds of the cross-entropy are found for fault-free circuit. While testing, the cross-entropy is obtained. If cross-entropy lies outside the tolerance limit then the CUT is declared faulty. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated via the second order Sallenkey bandpass filter circuit and continuous-time low pass state-variable filter circuit.     

A practical current sensing technique for IDDQ testing

In this paper, a practical design for built-in current sensors (BICS's) is proposed. This scheme can execute current testing during the normal circuit operation with very small impact on the performance of the circuit under test (CUT). In addition, scalable resolutions and no external voltage/current reference make this design more effective and efficient than previous designs. Moreover this scheme can be used to monitor the current-related faults of both CMOS and non-CMOS circuits. Thus it is highly suitable for design for testability (DFT) on a multiple-chip module (MCM) or to be the current monitor on the test fixture under the quality test action group (QTAG) standard     

Output gating performance overhead elimination for scan test

Switching activity is much higher in test mode as compared to normal mode of operation which causes higher power dissipation, and this leads to several reliability issues. Output gating is proposed as a very effective low-power test technique, which is used to eliminate redundant switching activity in the combinational logic of circuit under test (CUT) during the shifting of test vectors in a scan chain. This method reduces the average power significantly, but it introduces performance overhead in normal mode of operation. In this work, a new output gating technique is proposed which eliminates redundant switching activity in combinational logic of CUT during shifting of test vectors without any negative impact on performance as compared to earlier proposed output gating techniques. The proposed design also improves the performance of the scan flop in functional mode with negligible area overhead incurred due to extra transistors. Experimental results show that our design has a more robust performance over wide range of capacitive load as compared to earlier designs.     

基于分数阶小波的模拟电路参数估计* Deng Yong(邓勇)?, Zhang He(张禾)

Aiming at the problem of parameter estimation in analog circuits, a new approach is proposed. The approach is based on the fractional wavelet to derive the Volterra series model of the circuit under test(CUT). By the gradient search algorithm used in the Volterra model, the unknown parameters in the CUT are estimated and the Volterra model is identified. The simulations show that the parameter estimation results of the proposed method in the paper are better than those of other parameter estimation methods.     

Soft Fault Diagnosis in Analog Circuits Based on Bispectral Models

Aiming at the problem to locate soft faults in analog circuits, a new approach based on bispectral models is proposed. First, the Volterra kernels of the circuit under test (CUT) are calculated. Then, the Volterra kernels are used to construct bispectral models. By comparison with the fault features of the constructed models, soft faults of linear and weak nonlinear components in the analog circuit are identified and the faults are located. Simulations and experiments show the effectiveness of the proposed method in analog circuits.,     

模拟电路故障诊断的PSpice与Matlab仿真分析研究

根据模拟电路故障诊断中的测前模拟诊断SBT法,本文采用PSpice对待测电路CUT故障进行模拟仿真,通过小波包分析和信息熵方法提取故障电路输出信号的特征向量,利用Matlab设计的神经网络算法构建故障分类器并对电路故障进行识别与诊断。仿真实验结果表明将PSpice与Matlab相结合的诊断方法能够有效地诊断模拟电路故障,为模拟电路故障诊断的教学和科研提供参考。     

采用字典词条衍生模式的测试数据压缩

为了降低数字集成电路测试成本,压缩预先计算的测试集是一种有效的解决途径。该文根据索引位数远少于字典词条,以及测试数据中存在大量无关位,提出一种采用词条衍生和二级编码的字典压缩方案。该方案引入循环移位操作,确保无关位按序任意移动而不丢失,从而扩大词条衍生性能,减少非词条向量个数。另外,采用规则的两级编码可以减少码字数量和解压电路的复杂度。实验结果表明该文所提方案能够进一步提高测试数据压缩率,减少测试时间。     

Current monitoring circuit for fault detection in CMOS integrated circuit

This article presents a built-in current sensor (BICS), which detects faults using the current testing technique in CMOS integrated circuits. This circuit employs cross-coupled PMOS transistors, which are used as current comparators. The proposed circuit has a negligible impact on the performance of the circuit under test (CUT). In addition, no extra power dissipation and high-speed fault detection are achieved. It can be applied to deep sub-micron processes. The validity and effectiveness are verified through the HSPICE simulation on circuits with faults. The entire area of the test chip is 116×65 μm². The BICS occupies only 41×17 μm² of the area of the test chip. The area overhead of a BICS versus the entire chip is about 9.2%. The chip was fabricated with Hynix 0.35 μm 2-poly-4-metal N-well CMOS process.     

Theory of differential current switches and logic design of ternary ECL circuits at switch level

Starting from the viewpoint that the switch states and signal values in a digital circuit should be described separately by two different kinds of variable, the interaction between the switching element and signal in multi-valued ECL circuits is analysed and two types of connection operations, threshold switching operation and current switching operation, are proposed. The properties and circuit realizations of these new operations are discussed and the theory of differential current switches applicable to ECL circuits is established. Examples of basic ternary ECL circuits confirm that this theory can effectively guide the logic design of ternary ECL circuits at switch level. The circuits are verified by using the SPICE II program. They have the same logic level difference and transient characteristic as binary ECL circuits. Since the multi-valued ECL circuit uses only one set of power supply and can set several threshold values by using reference levels, it can be fabricated using conventional ECL techniques and is compatible with binary ECL circuits.     

基于Pareto支配的MPRM电路面积与可靠性优化

针对MPRM（Mixed-Polarity Reed-Muller）电路的面积与可靠性折中优化问题,在逻辑级建立面积估算模型以及电路SER（Soft Error Rate）解析评价模型,并采用Pareto支配概念对MPRM电路进行面积与可靠性多目标优化.通过对MPRM电路的XOR部分进行树形异或门分解,并考虑多个输出之间异或门的共享,建立面积估算模型.采用信号概率和故障传播方法,并考虑电路中的逻辑屏蔽因素以及信号相关性,建立电路SER解析评价模型.根据所提出的面积和SER评价模型,采用极性向量的格雷码序穷举搜索MPRM的极性空间得到MPRM电路面积与可靠性的Pareto最优解集,并使用效率因子技术指标选取最终解.MCNC基准电路的实验结果表明,与面积最小MPRM电路相比,所选取的MPRM电路可以在较小面积开销的前提下获得较高电路可靠性.     

Test of a switched-capacitor ADC by a built-in charge sensor

A test methodology for switched capacitor circuits is described. The test approach uses a built-in sensor to analyze the charge transfer inside the circuit under test (CUT). The test methodology is applied to a 10-bit algorithmic analog to digital converter to obtain the static linearity and to the simulated fault coverage figures taking into account a catastrophic fault model. The goodness of the charge sensor has been experimentally evaluated with an SC integrator for fault detection and built-in sensor influence on the CUT performance.