Cost analysis of test method environments

As ICs get larger and increasingly more expensive to test, testing provision has to be made at the design stage. The authors discuss the development of a test-planning system based on economic considerations and using a parameterized economics model for cost predictions. The use of the economics model, as well as some of the factors that affect the cost effectiveness of design-for-test strategies are considered. Two levels of hierarchy in the cost modeling approach are discussed: the general model, which can be used to estimate costs from component design through to field test, and the component level, which addresses the modeling of component design, manufacture, and test costs