Testing and built-in self-test - A survey

As the density of VLSI circuits increases, it becomes attractive to integrate dedicated test logic on a chip. This Built-in Self-Test (BIST) approach not only offers economic benefits but also interesting technical opportunities with respect to hierarchical testing and the reuse of test logic during the application of the circuit. Starting with an overview on test problems, test applications and terminology this survey reviews common test methods and analyzes the basic test procedure. The concept of BIST is introduced and discussed, BIST strategies for random logic as well as for structured logic are shown.