Compressing Functional Tests for Microprocessors

Abstract

In the past, test data volume reduction techniques have concentrated heavily on scan test data content. However, functional vectors continue to be utilized because they target unique defects and failure modes. Hence, functional vector compression can help alleviate the cost of functional test. Scan vector compression techniques are generally unsuitable in the functional domain and techniques specially tailored for functional test compression are required. Additionally, it may be possible to perform compression and decompression using software techniques without incurring the overhead of dedicated hardware. This paper proposes a set of software techniques targeted towards functional test compression.