Using syndrome compression for memory built-in self-diagnosis

Author

Li, Jin-Fu ; Tzeng, Ruey-Shing ; Wu, Cheng-Wen

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. Eng., Nat. Tsing Hua Univ., Hsinchu, Taiwan

fYear

2001

fDate

2001

Firstpage

303

Lastpage

306

Abstract

Due to the pin-count limitation, built-in self-diagnosis (BISD) for embedded RAMs usually exports diagnosis information serially, which results in the overhead of diagnostic time. This paper describes a tree-based compression technique for word-oriented memories. The technique can speed up the transmission of diagnosis data from the embedded RAM with BISD support. By using a simplified Huffman coding scheme and partitioning each 256-bit Hamming syndrome into fixed-size symbols, the average compression ratio is reduced to about 10%, assuming 16-bit symbols. The proposed compression technique reduces the time for diagnostic test, as well as the tester storage requirement

Keywords

Huffman codes; VLSI; built-in self test; data compression; fault diagnosis; integrated circuit testing; integrated memory circuits; logic testing; random-access storage; tree codes; BISD; BIST; Hamming syndrome partitioning; diagnostic test time reduction; embedded RAMs; fixed-size symbols; memory built-in self-diagnosis; simplified Huffman coding scheme; syndrome compression; tester storage requirement reduction; tree-based compression technique; word-oriented memories; Automatic testing; Built-in self-test; Circuit faults; Circuit testing; Coupling circuits; Displays; Fault detection; Huffman coding; Random access memory; Read-write memory;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

VLSI Technology, Systems, and Applications, 2001. Proceedings of Technical Papers. 2001 International Symposium on

Conference_Location

Hsinchu

ISSN

1524-766X

Print_ISBN

0-7803-6412-0

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/VTSA.2001.934545

Filename

934545