A resource balancing approach to SoC test scheduling

We present a novel test scheduling algorithm for embedded core-based SoCs. We formulate the test scheduling as a shortest path problem with the feature of evenly balanced resource usage. Improvements to the basic algorithm are sought by core-grouping and all-permutation scheduling. We also extend the algorithm to allow multiple test sets selection to facilitate the testing for various fault models. A simulation study is performed to quantify the benefits of our new scheduling approach.