Fault diagnosis aware ATE assisted test response compaction

Abstract

Recently a new method called ATE assisted compaction for achieving test response compaction has been proposed. The method relies on testers to achieve additional compaction, without compromising fault coverage, beyond what may already be achieved using on-chip response compactors. The method does not add additional logic or modify the circuit under test or require additional tests and thus can be used with any design including legacy designs. In this work, we enhance this method so that the level of diagnostic resolution achieved without it can be maintained. Experimental results on larger ISCAS-89 show that additional test response compaction can be achieved while diagnostic resolution for single and double stuck-at faults is not adversely impacted by the procedure.