Testing approach for online hardware self tests in embedded safety related systems

In safety related systems online hardware self tests are integrated to reach a defined level of hardware integrity. These tests comprise testing of the static and volatile memory and the CPU internals. The higher the level of integrity should be, the more efficient tests must be used. Additionally, the effort to verify the correctness of the tests is rising. Hence, designing the test, and the validation and verification of the tests, is a critical part in the development process of safety related systems. The verification of the correct behavior requires sophisticated methods for stimulating errors that must be detected by the tests. The document describes an environment based on boundary scan technology for testing the online hardware self tests automatically.