A complete methodology for determining memory BIST optimization under wrappers sharing constraints

This paper is about a generic method for designing shared memory BIST systems. In order to be of practical use, such a method should work with whatever memory kinds and BIST components are available for the technology used. It should accept arbitrary sharing rules for grouping memories under a wrapper, and it should take individual values of BIST component area, memory test time and memory testing peak power as parameters. We present such a method that uses genetic algorithms for its optimization phase, together with its industrial implementation, and numerical evidence for the value of the method. It is integrated into STMicroelectronics´ BIST definition flow.