Fault dictionary-based scan chain failure diagnosis
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of identifying faulty scan cells in a scan chain, comprising:
- receiving a failure log that indicates failures detected during scan chain testing of an integrated circuit;
reading one or more fault signatures from a fault dictionary that specifies failures that will occur in a scan chain readout if a scan cell in the scan chain has a fault, wherein the fault dictionary includes a complete fault signature for a first candidate scan cell in the scan chain and an incomplete differential fault signature for a second candidate scan cell in the scan chain from which a complete fault signature for the second candidate scan cell can be recreated; and
with a computer, using the one or more fault signatures stored in the fault dictionary and the failure log to identify a faulty scan cell in the scan chain.
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Abstract
A dictionary-based scan chain fault detector includes a dictionary with fault signatures computed for scan cells in the scan chain. Entries in the fault dictionary are compared with failures in the failure log to identify a faulty scan cell. In one embodiment a single fault in a scan chain is identified. In another embodiment, a last fault and a first fault in a scan chain are identified.
22 Citations
36 Claims
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1. A method of identifying faulty scan cells in a scan chain, comprising:
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receiving a failure log that indicates failures detected during scan chain testing of an integrated circuit; reading one or more fault signatures from a fault dictionary that specifies failures that will occur in a scan chain readout if a scan cell in the scan chain has a fault, wherein the fault dictionary includes a complete fault signature for a first candidate scan cell in the scan chain and an incomplete differential fault signature for a second candidate scan cell in the scan chain from which a complete fault signature for the second candidate scan cell can be recreated; and with a computer, using the one or more fault signatures stored in the fault dictionary and the failure log to identify a faulty scan cell in the scan chain. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A method of identifying a last fault in a faulty scan chain having multiple faults, the method comprising:
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receiving a failure log indicating failures detected during scan chain testing of an integrated circuit, the failure log indicating failures on the faulty scan chain and failures on scan chains that are free of faults; reading a fault signature from a fault dictionary that specifies failures that will occur in scan chains of the integrated circuit when a candidate scan cell in the faulty scan chain has a fault, the failures specified including failures in the faulty scan chain and failures on scan chains that are free of faults the fault dictionary including one or more complete fault signatures and one or more incomplete differential fault signatures; and using a computer, comparing the failures specified in the fault signature for scan chains that are free of faults with failures in the failure log for scan chains that are free of faults to identify the candidate scan cell as the last fault in the faulty scan chain. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A method of identifying a first fault in a faulty scan chain, the method comprising:
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reading a fault signature for a candidate scan cell that may be the first fault in the faulty scan chain; reading a fault signature for a previously determined last fault in the faulty scan chain, the fault signature being a differential fault signature from which a complete fault signature can be determined with reference to a base fault signature; using a computer, creating a composite fault signature for the candidate scan cell that includes failures defined in the fault signature for the candidate scan cell that are upstream of the candidate scan cell and failures defined in the fault signature for the last fault that are downstream of the candidate scan cell; and using the computer, comparing the failures in the composite fault signature with failures listed in a failure log to identify the candidate scan cell as the first fault in the faulty scan chain. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. One or more non-transitory computer readable media storing a series of instructions that are executable by a computer to perform a method, the method comprising:
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receiving a failure log that indicates failures detected during scan chain testing of an integrated circuit; reading one or more fault signatures from a fault dictionary that specifies failures that will occur in a scan chain readout if a scan cell in the scan chain has a fault, wherein the fault dictionary includes a complete fault signature for a first candidate scan cell in the scan chain and an incomplete differential fault signature for a second candidate scan cell in the scan chain from which a complete fault signature for the second candidate scan cell can be recreated; and using the one or more fault signatures stored in the fault dictionary and the failure log to identify a faulty scan cell in the scan chain. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. One or more non-transitory computer readable media storing a series of instructions that are executable by a computer to perform a method of identifying a last fault in a faulty scan chain having multiple faults, the method comprising:
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receiving a failure log indicating failures detected during scan chain testing of an integrated circuit, the failure log indicating failures on the faulty scan chain and failures on scan chains that are free of faults, the fault dictionary including one or more complete fault signatures and one or more incomplete differential fault signatures; reading a fault signature from a fault dictionary that specifies failures that will occur in scan chains of the integrated circuit when a candidate scan cell in the faulty scan chain has a fault, the failures specified including failures in the faulty scan chain and failures on scan chains that are free of faults; and comparing the failures specified in the fault signature for scan chains that are free of faults with failures in the failure log for scan chains that are free of faults to identify the candidate scan cell as the last fault in the faulty scan chain. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. One or more non-transitory computer readable media storing a series of instructions that are executable by a computer to perform a method of identifying a first fault in a faulty scan chain, the method comprising:
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reading a fault signature for a candidate scan cell that may be the first fault in the faulty scan chain; reading a fault signature for a previously determined last fault in the faulty scan chain, the fault signature being a differential fault signature from which a complete fault signature can be determined with reference to a base fault signature; creating a composite fault signature for the candidate scan cell that includes failures defined in the fault signature for the candidate scan cell that are upstream of the candidate scan cell and failures defined in the fault signature for the last fault that are downstream of the candidate scan cell; and comparing the failures in the composite fault signature with failures listed in a failure log to identify the candidate scan cell as the first fault in the faulty scan chain. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34, 35, 36)
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Specification