Abstract:
A method for creating an architecture to support Q-gating for launch-off-shift (LOS) scan testing using a plurality of flip-flops is provided. The method may include applying a common clock signal to each clock input of the plurality of flip-flops and applying a gated scan enable signal to each scan enable input of the plurality of flip-flops. The method may further include applying a global scan enable signal directly to each of a plurality of Q-gates corresponding to each of the plurality of flip-flops, wherein the global scan enable signal traverses a signal path that bypasses combinational logic located between any two flip-flops of the plurality of flip-flops.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application is related to the following commonly-owned, co-pending United States patent application filed on Jul. 6, 2013, the contents and disclosure of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein in its entirety: U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/942,732 for “ALGORITHM TO IDENTIFY BEST Q-GATING CANDIDATES AND A Q-GATING CELL ARCHITECTURE TO SATIATE THE LAUNCH-OFF-SHIFT (LOS) TESTING”. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates generally to integrated circuit testing, and more particularly, to the control of scan-shift power. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    As the geometry of transistors with respect to technology in integrated circuits (microelectronic chips or micro chips) shrinks, the number and type of defects on a chip may increase exponentially with an increase in logic density. A defect may be an error introduced into a device during the manufacturing process. A fault model is a mathematical description of how a defect alters design behavior. During the design of the integrated circuit, testing is performed to ensure that the integrated circuit works as anticipated. Testing of integrated circuits may be facilitated by design techniques known in the art as Design For Test (DFT), also known as Design for Testability. Automatic Test Pattern Generation and Automatic Test Pattern Generator (ATPG) is an electronic design automation (EDA) technology used to find an input (or test) sequence that, when applied to a digital circuit, enables automatic test equipment to distinguish between the correct circuit behavior and the faulty circuit behavior caused by defects. Design for testability (DFT) based on scan and automatic test pattern generation (ATPG) were developed to explicitly test each gate and path in a design. 
         [0004]    Scan Shift power and power droop during scan shifting pose major challenges to the test process as more gates are integrated within an area in shrinking nanometer nodes. As such, there is the need for Q-gating (“gated q” design). Q-gating is a DFT for reducing power consumption during shift operations. A Q-gated design adds logic gates to the circuit design between the q-output of each scan flip flop and the cone of logic. A shift line to the logic gates is asserted during shift operations. Assertion of the shift line causes output from the logic gates to the cone of logic to be held in a single state during shift operations. As such, the q-output of each scan flip flop is designated as the one to be “gated” during shift mode. However, there may be problems with using Q-gating to control scan-shift power for the entire design. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0005]    According to at least one embodiment of the present invention, a method for creating an architecture to support Q-gating for launch-off-shift (LOS) scan testing using a plurality of flip-flops is provided. The method may include applying a common clock signal to each clock input of the plurality of flip-flops and applying a gated scan enable signal to each scan enable input of the plurality of flip-flops. The method may further include applying a global scan enable signal directly to each of a plurality of Q-gates corresponding to each of the plurality of flip-flops, wherein the global scan enable signal traverses a signal path that bypasses combinational logic located between any two flip-flops of the plurality of flip-flops. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0006]    These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of illustrative embodiments thereof, which is to be read in connection with the accompanying drawings. The various features of the drawings are not to scale as the illustrations are for clarity in facilitating one skilled in the art in understanding the invention in conjunction with the detailed description. In the drawings: 
           [0007]      FIG. 1  illustrates an exemplary logic test design of an integrated circuit according to one embodiment; 
           [0008]      FIG. 2  is an operational flow chart for identifying the best Q-gating candidates, according to one embodiment; 
           [0009]      FIG. 3  illustrates Q-gating with pipelined scan enable according to one embodiment; 
           [0010]      FIG. 4  illustrates timing wave forms depicting a setup timing violation at at-speed capture clock edge according to one embodiment; 
           [0011]      FIG. 5  illustrates an exemplary architecture to eliminate timing issues when testing at-speed with an LOS operation according to one embodiment; 
           [0012]      FIG. 6  illustrates timing wave forms depicting data capture eliminating a setup timing violation at at-speed capture clock edge according to one embodiment. 
           [0013]      FIG. 7  is a block diagram of internal and external components of computers that may be utilized with the embodiments depicted in  FIGS. 1-2 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0014]    Detailed embodiments of the claimed structures and methods are disclosed herein; however, it can be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely illustrative of the claimed structures and methods that may be embodied in various forms. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the exemplary embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these exemplary embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete and will fully convey the scope of this invention to those skilled in the art. In the description, details of well-known features and techniques may be omitted to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the presented embodiments. 
         [0015]    According to one or more exemplary embodiments described herein, an optimum method of Q-gating a scan chain design which may eliminate the timing issues when testing at-speed with a Launch-off-shift (LOS) operation is provided. The method may further determine the optimum Q-gating structure supporting launch-off shift and therefore, may also overcome timing issues. 
         [0016]    As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the present invention may be embodied as a system, method or computer program product. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all generally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.” Furthermore, aspects of the present invention may take the form of a computer program product embodied in one or more computer readable medium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon. 
         [0017]    Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may be utilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readable storage medium would include the following: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. 
         [0018]    A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to, electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. A computer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. 
         [0019]    Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless, wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination of the foregoing. 
         [0020]    Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of the present invention may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including an object oriented programming language such as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages. The program code may execute entirely on the user&#39;s computer, partly on the user&#39;s computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user&#39;s computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user&#39;s computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider). 
         [0021]    Aspects of the present invention are described below with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. 
         [0022]    These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readable medium produce an article of manufacture including instructions which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. 
         [0023]    In an embodiment of the present invention, the testing apparatus is implemented in software on one or more appropriately programmed general purpose digital computers having a processor, memory and input/output interfaces. 
         [0024]    By way of example, referring to  FIG. 1 , an exemplary logic test design of an integrated circuit according to one embodiment is depicted. The logic test design of integrated circuit  102  may include, for example, a maximum of 150 flip-flops  104  that are driven through a combinational logic block  108  by a left driving flip-flop  106 . Moreover, the logic test design of integrated circuit  102  may include a maximum number of 100 combinational logic gate stages. Aspects of integrated circuit  102  may be described in further detail below with respect to the flow diagram of  FIG. 2 . 
         [0025]      FIG. 2  is a flow chart illustrating the steps carried out by a Q-gating program to determine the best flip-flops or latches that would be prospective candidates for the replacement of Q-gating flip-flops rather than Q-gating the entire design. As described above, there may be problems with using Q-gating to control scan-shift power for the entire design. For example, using Q-gating to control scan-shift power for the entire design increases active power to the design. Additionally, it poses timing challenges during Launch-off-Shift pattern as gating “Q” creates a new arc from the scan enable root through the Q gate until the input pin of capture flop. As previously explained, the method provides advantages to minimize power droop. The method may be integrated during scan insertion and may use a parameter which is termed as depth and width grading. Flowchart  200  may be described with the aide of integrated circuit  102  ( FIG. 1 ). 
         [0026]    Referring to  FIG. 2  at  202 , the maximum width is determined. For every flip-flop/latch in the design that drives a combinational logic block, the maximum number of subsequent flip-flops/latches that follow this combinational logic block may correspond to the maximum width. For example, the design of integrated circuit  102  ( FIG. 1 ) may have 1.2 million total flip-flops. As such, the Q-gating program  200  may identify a maximum of 150 flip-flops  104  ( FIG. 1 ) that follow the combination logic block  108  ( FIG. 1 ) driven by flip-flop  106  ( FIG. 1 ). In this example, the maximum of 150 flip-flops  104  ( FIG. 1 ) is the maximum width. 
         [0027]    Then at  204 , the maximum depth is determined. For every flip-flop/latch in the design, the number of combinational logic gate stages that each flip-flop drives before encountering the next flip-flop/latch in its path (i.e., before hitting an endpoint) is calculated. In other words, the maximum depth may correspond to the maximum number of combinational logic gate stages (e.g., Stage 1 . . . Stage 100) of a combinational logic block  108  ( FIG. 1 ) located between a flip-flop  106  driving the logic block  108  ( FIG. 1 ) and the first flip-flop (#1) in a chain of flip-flops  104  ( FIG. 1 ) the receive the output  112  from the combinational logic block  108  ( FIG. 1 ). With respect to the example above, the design under consideration (i.e., integrated circuit  102  ( FIG. 1 )) may have 1.2 million total flip-flops/latches. As such, the Q-gating program  200  may identify a combination logic block  108  ( FIG. 1 ) between two flip-flops having a maximum number of 100 gate stages ( FIG. 1 ). 
         [0028]    Then, at  206 , the maximum congestion in the entire design is determined. To determine the maximum congestion in the entire design, the design is divided into equal squares and the density per unit square is evaluated (i.e., per micron square). As such, the largest density of gates in the entire design (e.g., sequential &amp; combinational logic) is considered to be the maximum congestion. With respect to the example above, the design under consideration  102  ( FIG. 1 ) may have 1.2 million total flip-flops/latches. As such, the Q-gating program  200  may divide the entire deign of integrated circuit  102  ( FIG. 1 ) into equal squares and identify 5,000 gates per unit square (5K/u. sq.) to be the maximum congestion (i.e., the maximum density per unit square) for the entire design. 
         [0029]    At  208 , each flip-flop in the entire design is evaluated. With respect to the example above, the design under consideration  102  ( FIG. 1 ) may have 1.2 million total flip-flops. As such, the Q-gating program  200  may identify 1.2 million flip-flops  104  ( FIG. 1 ) in the entire design for integrated circuit  102  ( FIG. 1 ) and evaluate each flip-flop for the flip-flop&#39;s depth, width and congestion. 
         [0030]    At  210 , it is then determined whether the flip-flop being evaluated is the last flip-flop. If the flip-flop being evaluated is not the last flip-flop in the entire design, then at  212 , the counter (i.e., counting each flip-flop as it is evaluated) is incremented. For example, integrated circuit  102  ( FIG. 1 ) may have 1.2 million total flip-flops/latches. As such, the Q-gating program  200  may initiate a counter to begin counting from 0 to 1.2 million (the total number of flip-flops previously determined in the entire design  102  ( FIG. 1 )) and to increment the counter by 1 as it continues to evaluate each flip-flop for the flip-flop&#39;s depth, width and congestion from flip-flop 0 to flip-flop 1.2 million. Therefore, if at  210 , the Q-gating program  200  determines that the flip-flop currently being examined is not the last flip-flop in the entire design  102  ( FIG. 1 ), then at  212 , the counter would be incremented by 1. 
         [0031]    Then at  214 , the relative width and depth of the flip-flop under consideration is determined. The relative width of the flip-flop under consideration may be determined by evaluating the number of flip-flops that the flip-flop under consideration drives. The relative depth of the flip-flop is determined by evaluating the number of combinational logic gate stages that the current flip-flop under consideration drives. For example, the current flip-flop may have a relative width equal to 20 (i.e., the current flip-flop may drive 20 flip-flops) and a relative depth of 40 (i.e., the current flip-flop may drive 40 combinational logic gate stages). 
         [0032]    Then at  216 , the flip-flop being examined is absolutely/relatively graded based on the calculated relative width and relative depth. As such, the relative graded width of the current flip-flop is evaluated against the maximum width of the entire design under consideration. Therefore, the relative graded width of the current flip-flop may include the ratio of the current relative width of the flip-flop ( 214 ) to the maximum width ( 202 ) of the entire design (i.e., relative graded width of current flip-flop=current width÷maximum width). For example, the design  102  ( FIG. 1 ) may have a maximum width equal to 150 and the current flip-flop may have a relative width equal to 20. Thus, the graded width value of the current flip-flop would be 20/150=0.1333. (i.e., current width/maximum width). 
         [0033]    Similarly, at  216  the relative depth of the current flip-flop is evaluated. As such, the relative depth of the current flip-flop is evaluated against the maximum depth. Therefore, the relative graded depth of the current flip-flop is equal to the current depth of the flip-flop divided by the maximum depth of the entire design (i.e., relative depth of current flip-flop=current depth÷maximum depth). For example, the design  102  ( FIG. 1 ) may have a maximum depth equal to 100 (see  FIG. 1 ) and the current flip-flop may have a depth equal 40. Therefore, the graded value for the relative depth rating of the current flip-flop would be 40/100=0.25. (i.e., current depth/maximum depth). 
         [0034]    Then at  218 , the current flip-flop being examined is absolutely/relatively graded based on the maximum congestion. Therefore, the gate density is evaluated with the same unit as the maximum congestion evaluation of the flip-flop under consideration. As such, the relativity of the density against the maximum congestion of the entire design is evaluated. The relative congestion of the current flip-flop is equal to the current congestion divided by the maximum congestion (i.e., relative congestion of current flip-flop=current congestion÷maximum congestion). For example, the design  102  ( FIG. 1 ) may have a maximum congestion value equal to 5 thousand gates per unit square (5K gates/u. sq.) and the current flip-flop may have a congestion value of 2 thousand gates per unit square (2K gates/u. sq.); therefore, the graded value for the relative congestion rating of the current flip-flop would be 2K/5K=0.4. (i.e., current congestion rating/maximum congestion). 
         [0035]    If at  210 , the Q-gating program  200  determines the current flip-flop being examined is the last flip-flop under consideration, then at  220 , the design is Q-gated based on prominence settings for the graded relative width, depth, and congestion of the flip-flops. Therefore, after all the flip-flops in the design are evaluated, the flip-flops are sorted based on their respective graded values (i.e., graded relative width, depth, congestion). Only the flip-flops that include a higher range of graded relative width, graded relative depth, and graded relative congestion are Q-gated according to the predetermined criteria (i.e., prominence settings for width, depth and congestion). For example, the prominence setting may be predetermined criteria for relative graded width, depth, and congestion. The sum of the prominence settings for the width, depth and congestion must equal a total of 100%. Also, the criteria for Q-gating the design may also be predetermined. 
         [0036]    For example, the prominence setting for Q-gating the design under consideration may include a 10% criteria for width; a 10% criteria for depth; and a 80% criteria for congestion (i.e., 10%+10%+80%=100%). The criteria may further specify a Q-gate percentage, whereby for example, only 50% of the entire design is Q-gated. As such, based on the predetermined prominence settings, the overall summed value for each evaluated flip-flop may be obtained by firstly multiplying the graded values for width, depth, and congestion by the respective prominence setting for width, depth, and congestion. Secondly, the results of this multiplication are summed. (i.e., (width prominence criteria*graded width value)+(depth prominence criteria*graded depth value)+(congestion prominence criteria*graded congestion value)). 
         [0037]    With respect to the current example, the overall summed value for one exemplary flip-flop would be as follows: (20/150)=0.1333 (graded width rating)*0.10 (criteria for width)+(40/100)=0.25 (graded depth rating)*0.10 (criteria for depth)+(2K/5K)=0.40 (graded congestion rating)*0.80 (criteria for congestion)=0.358333 (overall summed value for example flip-flop). 
         [0038]    After evaluating all the flip-flops in the design utilizing the predetermined prominence settings for width, depth, and congestion, the flip-flops are sorted in order of magnitude based on their respective overall summed values. Thus, only the top values are selected according to the Q-gate percentage. For example, the Q-gate percentage was set to 50% and, therefore only 600,000 flip-flops (50% of 1.2 million flip-flops) are predetermined for selection. Thus, the first 600,000 flip-flops with the highest summed value are Q-gated. 
         [0039]    The present invention relates generally to integrated circuit testing, and more particularly, to the control of scan-shift power. The following described exemplary embodiments provide a method to eliminate timing issues when testing at-speed with an LOS operation. In one embodiment, the architecture of Q-gating with global scan enable aides in enabling the launch-off-shift at-speed testing. Furthermore, the extra timing arc created by scan enable propagating through Q-gating may be completely eliminated with multiple pipe stages to assist test timing closure. 
         [0040]      FIG. 3  illustrates Q-gating with pipelined scan enable on a shift register. A shift register is a cascade of flip flops, sharing the same clock, in which the output of each flip-flop is connected to the data input of the next flip-flop in the chain, resulting in a circuit that shifts by one position the bit array stored in it, shifting in the data present at its input and shifting out the last bit in the array, at each transition of the clock input. 
         [0041]    Scan chain is a technique used in design for testing. The objective is to make testing easier by providing a simple way to set and observe every flip-flop in an integrated circuit. The basic structure of scan includes the following set of signals in order to control and observe the scan mechanism. Scan-in and scan-out define the input and output of a scan chain. In a full scan mode usually each input drives only one chain and scan out observe one as well. A scan enable pin is a special signal that is added to a design. When this signal is asserted, every flip-flop in the design is connected into a long shift register. Clock signal which is used for controlling all the flip-flops in the chain during shift phase and the capture phase. An arbitrary pattern can be entered into the chain of flip-flops, and the state of every flip-flop can be read out. 
         [0042]    Referring to  FIG. 3 , the global scan enable pipelined path (YSE)  302  is depicted via following path  306 . As shown, a gated scan enable signal  303  may be coupled to the scan enable (SE) of both flip-flop A  304  and flip-flop B  314 . A global scan enable signal  302  may couple directly along path  306  to the Q-gate  306  associated with flip-flop A  304  and to other subsequent Q-gates such as Q-gate  316  associated with flip-flop B  314 .  FIG. 3  further depicts how the LOS gated scan enable signal  303  propagating along path  306  through combinational logic  310  is used for Q-gating. 
         [0043]    However, using Q-gating to control scan-shift power for the entire design may increase active power to the design and may also increase the silicon area and gate counts in a system on a chip (SOC) methodology. Additionally, it may pose timing challenges during launch-off-shift pattern (LOS) as gating “Q” creates a new arc from the scan enable root through the Q gate  308  until the input pin of capture flop  314 . Furthermore, during test mode on an ATPG, the scan enable (SE) has to travel low at-speed.  FIG. 3  illustrates a gated version where the clock travels to all the flip-flops in the design and LOS gated scan enable is used for Q-gating only. As such, Q-gating at flop A  304  by gated (i.e., pipelined) scan enable (YSE  302 ) may delay Q output further and the delay time that the combinational logic  310  arrives at flip-flop B&#39;s D input  316  is closer to flip-flop B&#39;s  314  clock causing setup timing closure difficult. 
         [0044]    With respect to  FIG. 4 , the corresponding timing wave forms when global scan enable is used are depicted.  FIG. 4  illustrates how data capture may have a setup timing violation at at-speed capture clock edge at flip-flop B  406 , since SE used for Q gating on flip-flop A should be settled within the timing window. 
         [0045]    With respect to  FIG. 4 , flip-flop A launches  402  and the gated (i.e., pipelined) scan enable (YSE) clock changes  404 . At  408 , the failing edge of the YSE which triggers the data to change is depicted. Following the path, at  410 , the timing is delayed. Since YSE depends on a launch clock and YSE is a high fan-out net, delays on YSE may be high. As such, Q-gating at flop A  402  by YSE may delay Q output further and the delay time that the combinational logic arrives at flip-flop B&#39;s D input (capture  406 ) is closer to flop B&#39;s clock causing setup timing closure difficult. 
         [0046]    Conversely,  FIG. 5  illustrates an exemplary architecture that may mitigate and in some instances, completely eliminate timing issues when testing at-speed with a Launch-off-shift (LOS) operation according to one embodiment. The proposed architecture illustrates how a global scan enable may be used rather than a LOS gated scan enable for Q-gating flip-flops (i.e., flip-flops and latches). The method minimizes the area-overhead that is associated with Q-gating, however it may still provide the benefits of reduced power droop. The architecture of Q-gating with global scan enable facilitates LOS at-speed testing. Additionally, an extra timing arc created by scan enable propagating through Q-gating may be eliminated with multiple pipe stages to assist test timing closure. 
         [0047]    The global scan enable pipelined path  504  may be depicted via following path  506 . As depicted, a gated scan enable signal  503  may be coupled to the scan enable (SE) of both flip-flop A  502  and flip-flop B  512 . A global scan enable signal  514  may couple directly along path  506  to the Q-gate  508  associated with flip-flop A  502  and to other subsequent Q-gates such as Q-gate  516  associated with flip-flop B  512 .  FIG. 5  further illustrates how the global scan enable signal  514  propagating along path  506  is used for Q-gating only instead of utilizing the LOS gated scan enable signal  503 . Since the global scan enable signal  514  initiates capture mode before at-speed pulses output (e.g., SE signal  503 ) from the gated timing device  516 , Q-gating will follow the captured combinational logical value in the flip-flop. Therefore, the Q output values from the flip-flops reaching the Q-gate are stable. 
         [0048]      FIG. 5  further illustrates that Q-gating at flip-flop A  502  ( FIG. 5 ) is dependent on SE  504  ( FIG. 5 ) and not YSE  518   FIG. 5 ). Since the SE signal  506  ( FIG. 5 ) is independent of the launch clock, flip-flop A  502  ( FIG. 5 ) output changes only with respect to flip-flop A&#39;s  502  ( FIG. 5 ) clock. The delay “t”  510  ( FIG. 5 ) of combinational logic  510  ( FIG. 5 ) may arrive at flip-flop B&#39;s  512  ( FIG. 5 ) D input  516  ( FIG. 5 ) a long time before flip-flop B&#39;s  512  ( FIG. 5 ) clock signal which provides adequate margins for setup. In other words, the setup may not be a problem since the Q-gate happens with the SE  504  ( FIG. 5 ) and not with the YSE  514  ( FIG. 5 ). 
         [0049]    In  FIG. 6 , the proposed-art timing wave forms depicting how SE  504  ( FIG. 5 ) does not depend on a launch clock is illustrated. As shown in  FIG. 6 , the data capture eliminates the setup timing violation at at-speed capture clock edge at FLOP B  604 . Flip-flop A launches  602  and following the path to  608 , flip-flop A&#39;s output changes only with respect to flip-flop&#39;s A clock and is independent of the change of YSE  606 . As such, the delay of the combinational logic arrives at B&#39;s D input  604  significantly earlier than flip-flop B&#39;s clock signal which provides adequate margins for setup. 
         [0050]      FIG. 7  is a block diagram of internal and external components of computers depicted in  FIG. 1  in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the present invention. It should be appreciated that  FIG. 4  provides only an illustration of one implementation and does not imply any limitations with regard to the environments in which different embodiments may be implemented. Many modifications to the depicted environments may be made based on design and implementation requirements. 
         [0051]    Data processing system  800 ,  900  is representative of any electronic device capable of executing machine-readable program instructions. Data processing system  800 ,  900  may be representative of a smart phone, a computer system, PDA, or other electronic devices. Examples of computing systems, environments, and/or configurations that may represented by data processing system  800 ,  900  include, but are not limited to, personal computer systems, server computer systems, thin clients, thick clients, hand-held or laptop devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based systems, network PCs, minicomputer systems, and distributed cloud computing environments that include any of the above systems or devices. 
         [0052]    Q-gating program  200  may be implemented on a testing apparatus that may include respective sets of internal components  800  and external components  900  illustrated in  FIG. 7 . Each of the sets of internal components  800  includes one or more processors  820 , one or more computer-readable RAMs  822  and one or more computer-readable ROMs  824  on one or more buses  826 , and one or more operating systems  828  and one or more computer-readable tangible storage devices  830 . The one or more operating systems  828  are stored on one or more of the respective computer-readable tangible storage devices  830  for execution by one or more of the respective processors  820  via one or more of the respective RAMs  822  (which typically include cache memory). In the embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 7 , each of the computer-readable tangible storage devices  830  is a magnetic disk storage device of an internal hard drive. Alternatively, each of the computer-readable tangible storage devices  830  is a semiconductor storage device such as ROM  824 , EPROM, flash memory or any other computer-readable tangible storage device that can store a computer program and digital information. 
         [0053]    Each set of internal components  800  also includes a R/W drive or interface  832  to read from and write to one or more portable computer-readable tangible storage devices  936  such as a CD-ROM, DVD, memory stick, magnetic tape, magnetic disk, optical disk or semiconductor storage device. The best candidate for Q-gating in the design program  200  ( FIG. 2 ) can be stored on one or more of the respective portable computer-readable tangible storage devices  936 , read via the respective R/W drive or interface  832  and loaded into the respective hard drive  830 . 
         [0054]    Each set of internal components  800  also includes network adapters or interfaces  836  such as a TCP/IP adapter cards, wireless wi-fi interface cards, or 3G or 4G wireless interface cards or other wired or wireless communication links. The best candidate for Q-gating in the design program  200  ( FIG. 2 ) can be downloaded to a testing apparatus from an external computer via a network (for example, the Internet, a local area network or other, wide area network) and respective network adapters or interfaces  836 . From the network adapters or interfaces  836 , the best candidate for Q-gating in the design program  200  ( FIG. 2 ) may be loaded into the respective hard drive  830 . The network may comprise copper wires, optical fibers, wireless transmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/or edge servers. 
         [0055]    Each of the sets of external components  900  can include a computer display monitor  920 , a keyboard  930 , and a computer mouse  934 . External components  900  can also include touch screens, virtual keyboards, touch pads, pointing devices, and other human interface devices. Each of the sets of internal components  800  also includes device drivers  840  to interface to computer display monitor  920 , keyboard  930  and computer mouse  934 . The device drivers  840 , R/W drive or interface  832  and network adapter or interface  836  comprise hardware and software (stored in storage device  830  and/or ROM  824 ). 
         [0056]    Aspects of the present invention have been described with respect to block diagrams and/or flowchart illustrations of methods, apparatus (system), and computer program products according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer instructions. These computer instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. 
         [0057]    The aforementioned programs can be written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including low-level, high-level, object-oriented or non object-oriented languages, such as Java, Smalltalk, C, and C++. The program code may execute entirely on the user&#39;s computer, partly on the user&#39;s computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user&#39;s computer and partly on a remote computer, or entirely on a remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user&#39;s computer through any type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet service provider). Alternatively, the functions of the aforementioned programs can be implemented in whole or in part by computer circuits and other hardware (not shown). 
         [0058]    Based on the foregoing, computer system, method and program product have been disclosed in accordance with the present invention. However, numerous modifications and substitutions can be made without deviating from the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the present invention has been disclosed by way of example and not limitation. 
         [0059]    The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present invention have been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the described embodiments. The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain the principles of the embodiments, the practical application or technical improvement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodiments disclosed herein.