Obstacles and an approach towards concurrent engineering

The integration of design-for-testability (DFT) and built-in self-test (BIST) into early stages of the overall design process is examined. Obstacles to concurrent engineering (CE) are briefly examined; they include short-sighted view of management, the ignoring of life-cycle costs by design management and contractors, area/functionality/performance myths, the view of testing as someone else´s problem, lack of knowledge by design engineers, and lack of tools for supporting DFT and BIST. An approach toward CE is illustrated, with the focus on the example of the ADAM; (Advanced Design AutoMation) system. Specifically, ADAM includes the TEST system, a knowledge-based system that incorporates DFT and BIST considerations into the early stage of the design cycle of a product. It is believed that, with the cooperation of management, the proper set of CAD (computer-aided-design) tools, and designer training CE can become a reality