A method of test plan grouping to shorten test length for RTL data paths under a test controller area constraint

This paper proposes a test generation method using several partly compacted test plan tables for RTL data paths. Combinational modules in data paths are tested using several partly compacted test plan tables. Each partly compacted test plan table is generated from each grouped test plan set and is used to test combinational modules corresponding to the grouped test plans. The values of control signals in a partly compacted test plan table are supplied from a test controller. This paper also proposes the architecture of a test controller which can be synthesized in a reasonable amount of time, and proposes a test plan grouping method to shorten the test length for data paths under a test controller area constraint. Experimental results for benchmarks show that the test lengths are shortened by 4 to 36 % with 9 to 8 % additional test controller area compared with the test generation method using test plans.