Scheduling tests for VLSI systems under power constraints

Abstract

This paper considers the problem of testing VLSI integrated circuits in minimum time without exceeding their power ratings during test. We use a resource graph formulation for the test problem. The solution requires finding a power-constrained schedule of tests. Two formulations of this problem are given as follows: (1) scheduling equal length tests with power constraints and (2) scheduling unequal length tests with power constraints. Optimum solutions are obtained for both formulations. Algorithms consist of four basic steps. First, a test compatibility graph is constructed from the resource graph. Second, the test compatibility graph is used to identify a complete set of time compatible tests with power dissipation information associated with each test. Third, from the set of compatible tests, lists of power compatible tests are extracted. Finally, a minimum cover table approach is used to find an optimum schedule of power compatible tests.