Patent Document

FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention pertains to the field of testing electronic circuits. At least some aspects of this invention relate to testing integrated circuits that have more input/output (IO) pins than the number of available tester channels.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     Electronic circuitry, such as integrated circuits (ICs), is becoming increasingly complex. For example, an integrated circuit is typically assuming more functionality while executing the associated functionality at greater speeds. In order to support the functionality, which necessitates control of circuitry external to the integrated circuit (often referred as a “chip”), more input/output (IO) pins are needed to interconnect with the external circuitry. When testing a chip, the operation of a section of the chip that is associated with an IO pin typically requires observability of the IO pin. More complex chips may require more IO pins, which may require observability for verifying the operation of the chip. Apparatuses for testing chips typically are expensive, and adding additional testing channels (a testing channel being associated with an IO pin) further increases the cost of these apparatuses. A manufacturer of the chip would want to invest in testing apparatus that adequately tests the chip at the lowest amount of investment. Thus, the manufacturer would desire to adequately test a chip only with the necessary number of available testing channels in order to avert an additional investment.  
         [0003]      FIG. 1  illustrates test logic  100  for testing electronic circuitry with the number of available input/output (IO) channels in accordance with prior art. Test logic  100  comprises a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) module  103  and a trace circuit  101 . FPGA module  103  is typically utilized to emulate (prototype) an integrated circuit design before committing the design to hardwired chips. Trace circuit  101  supports the emulation of the prototyped circuit.  
         [0004]     Input ports IP 1   105 -IP 6   115  provide digital stimulation (activity) of trace circuit  101 , and output ports (OP 1   167 -OP 6   177 ) allow access to the output from the trace circuit.  
         [0005]     In the example shown in  FIG. 1 , only two tester input/output (IO) channels  151  and  153  are shown, although test logic typically supports larger numbers of tester IO channels (typically, on the order of a few hundred). Tester IO channels  151  and  153  connect to output port  1  (OP 1 )  167  and output port  2  (OP 2 )  167 , respectively, as shown in  FIG. 1 . However, the number of available tester IO channels is typically limited because of architectural and budgetary constraints. In the example shown in  FIG. 1 , trace circuit  101  has more output ports than can be accommodated by the available number of tester IO channels (i.e., OP 3   171 , OP 4   173 , OP 5   175 , and OP 6   177  are not accommodated by tester IO channels in the illustrated example). With the prior art, when there are not enough tester IO channels to cover all the output ports (corresponding to output signals), the user typically masks the output ports (where the masked output ports are not connected to any tester IO channels) that are not deemed as important as other output ports. Because test logic  100  does not have more available tester IO channels, output ports OP 3   171 -OP 6   177  are not observable, and thus the associated circuitry of trace circuitry  101  may not be verified for proper operation. In other words, an undetectable fault in trace circuit  101  may exist.  
         [0006]     Thus, it would be an advancement in the field of testing electronic circuitry to provide apparatuses and methods that reduce the number of required testing channels while still adequately testing the electronic circuitry. It also would be an advancement in the field of testing electronic circuitry to allow more complete visibility of an electric circuit under test using an existing number of testing channels.  
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     At least some aspects of the present invention provide methods and apparatuses that support the testing of electronic circuits, where the number of input/output (IO) ports of the electronic circuit exceeds the number of available tester IO channels. In at least some examples, the invention utilizes observe logic in order to analyze at least some output ports that are masked (and not observable via the IO tester channels) so that the number of tester IO channels need not be expanded.  
         [0008]     With one aspect of the invention, digital data from an electronic circuit (corresponding to an associated section of the electronic circuit) is compacted by processing the data with a signature compactor. The signature compactor compacts the data into a signature, which is a compacted resulting sequence. If the electronic circuit is operating properly (i.e., there are no faults in the electronic circuit), the signature determined by the signature comparator will be equal to a correct signature, which is known a priori. A comparator may compare the determined signature with the correct signature to provide a “go/no-go” indication to a process through a processor channel. Providing test coverage using a signature, in at least some instances, averts the necessity of providing additional tester IO channels in order to cover the associated section of the electronic circuit.  
         [0009]     With another aspect of the invention, a comparator processes digital data from the electronic circuit. In such a case, an expected value is compared with an actual value. The comparator output is presented through a processor channel in order to determine whether the electronic circuit is operating properly.  
         [0010]     With another aspect of the invention, a pattern generator is used to generate test patterns as digital activity (which correspond to digital input signals) for the electronic circuit. The test patterns may be deterministic or pseudo random. Moreover, the source of activity may be selected as either the pattern generator or another component of the test logic. In an embodiment, test logic utilizes a multiplexer for the selection of the source of activity to apply to the test logic. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0011]     Illustrative embodiments of the present invention are illustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings. The drawings are not, however, intended to limit the scope of the present invention.  
         [0012]      FIG. 1  illustrates test logic for testing electronic circuitry with the number of available tester input/output (IO) channels in accordance with prior art;  
         [0013]      FIG. 2  illustrates a first example of test logic for testing electronic circuitry by increasing the visibility of the electronic circuitry with available tester IO channels in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;  
         [0014]      FIG. 3  illustrates an example architecture of test logic, as shown in  FIGS. 2, 4 ,  5 ,  6 , and  7 , in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;  
         [0015]      FIG. 4  illustrates a second example of test logic for testing electronic circuitry by increasing the visibility of the electronic circuitry with available tester IO channels in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;  
         [0016]      FIG. 5  illustrates a third example of test logic for testing electronic circuitry by increasing the visibility of the electronic circuitry with available tester IO channels in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;  
         [0017]      FIG. 6  illustrates a fourth example of test logic for testing electronic circuitry in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;  
         [0018]      FIG. 7  illustrates a fifth example of test logic for testing electronic circuitry in accordance with an embodiment of the invention;  
         [0019]      FIG. 8  illustrates an example of a signature compactor with linear feedback shift registers (LFSR) that may be used in various examples of the invention, such as in the systems shown in  FIGS. 2, 5 ,  6 , and  7 ; and  
         [0020]      FIG. 9  illustrates an example of a signature compactor with linear cellular automata registers (LCAR) that may be used in various examples of the invention, such as in the systems shown in  FIGS. 2, 5 ,  6 , and  7 . 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0021]     The following disclosure describes examples of novel architecture of apparatuses for testing electronic circuitry. Such architecture may be used, in at least some instances, to reduce a number of input/output (I/O) channels needed to provide full visibility or near-full visibility into operation of an electronic circuit under test.  
         [0022]     Definitions for the following terms are included to facilitate an understanding of the detailed description. Unless otherwise noted or clear from the context, the following terms will have the meanings provided below: 
        observable signal—a signal that can be monitored, either directly or indirectly, in order to ascertain proper operation of a corresponding section of an electronic circuit within an acceptable degree of probability. A signal may be observable if the signal affects another signal and if the other signal can be directly monitored.        
 
         [0024]      FIG. 2  illustrates test logic  200  for testing electronic circuitry by increasing the visibility of the electronic circuitry with available tester IO channels in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. In addition, test logic  200  may reduce a necessary number of tester IO channels while providing a same degree of visibility of the electronic circuitry. Because test logic  200  supports only a limited number of tester IO channels (IO 1   251  and IO 2   253  in the illustrated example), the limited number of available tester IO channels  251  and  253  cannot accommodate all of the output ports OP 1   267 -OP 6   277 . Therefore, it is not possible to observe all of the outputs of the circuit in order to detect faults of a trace circuitry  201 . (While the example in  FIG. 2  illustrates detecting a fault in trace circuit  201 , the embodiment supports the detection of faults in other components of test logic  200 , e.g., FPGA module  203  or in an electronic circuit being tested by test logic  200 .) While the illustrated test logic  200  has the same number of available tester IO channels (tester IO channels  251  and  253 ) as test logic  100  illustrated in  FIG. 1 , the signals associated with output ports OP 3   271 -OP 6   277  of a trace circuit  201  are observable through a signature compactor  221  and an interface module  225  (notably, the corresponding output ports OP 3   171  through OP 6   177  were simply not observable in the prior art example of  FIG. 1 ). A processor module  223  obtains an observable signal  259  from interface module  225  through a processor channel in order to determine if the associated section of trace circuit  201  is properly operating (i.e., there are no detectable faults). Processor module  223  may be external to test logic  200 , as illustrated in the example of  FIG. 2 , or it may be internal to the test logic  200  in other embodiments. While the observable signal in the example system of  FIG. 2  is exposed over a processor channel, in other embodiments of the invention, the observable signals may be exposed in other suitable or desired manners, such as through an available IO channel.  
         [0025]     In the example shown in  FIG. 2 , test logic  200  verifies trace circuit  201 , which is a component of test logic  200 . However, the embodiments shown in  FIGS. 2-7  may verify the operation of another electronic circuit that may be another component (e.g., a FPGA module  203  that supports emulation) of test logic  200  or that may not be a component of test logic  200 . For example, test logic  200  may verify the operation of an integrated circuit (not shown) that is not functionally part of test logic  200  but that is held in a test fixture so that the integrated circuit can be verified by test logic  200 .  
         [0026]     In the examples shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , test logic  200  provides a greater degree of visibility of the trace circuit than does test logic  100  with the same number of tester IO channels. Alternatively, without the data compaction provided by signature compactor  221 , the number of tester IO channels can be increased to increase the visibility of trace circuit  201 .  
         [0027]     Referring to the embodiment shown in  FIG. 2 , signature compactor  221  compacts data derived from output ports OP 3   271 -OP 6   277 . (A more detailed description of signature compactor  221  is provided with  FIGS. 8 and 9 .) Signature compactor  221  processes output signals present at output ports OP 3   271 -OP 6   277 , while trace circuit  201  is running at circuit speed. After trace circuit  201  runs for a desired time interval, signature compactor  221  determines a signature (corresponding to a processed signal  257 ). (The signature is typically a final state of the signature compactor, which consists of sequential circuitry.) In the illustrated example embodiment, signature compactor  221  processes signals from ports that are configured as output ports (i.e., OP 3   271 -OP 6   277 ). The signature is a resulting sequence of signature compactor  221 , where the signature is typically small with respect to the number of inputs to signature compactor  221 . Because the data is being compacted, thus causing a loss of information, there is a probability that the signature will not indicate a faulty circuit when a fault exists. Such a case is often referred as “aliasing.” However, the probability of such aliasing is typically small, and it may be reduced to an acceptable level by appropriately selecting design parameters for signature compactor  221  (e.g., by increasing the length of the shift register configurations, as will be described in more detail in conjunction with  FIG. 8 ).  
         [0028]     In the example, shown in  FIG. 2 , the user typically will partition the output ports so that the output ports corresponding to critical circuitry are not masked (e.g., output ports OP 1   267  and OP 2   269  in the illustrated example). By directly providing their outputs over the available tester IO channels IO 1  and IO 2 , there is a very high probability of detecting a fault visible through these critical output ports OP 1  and OP 2  (e.g., 100% certainty or essentially 100% certainty). On the other hand, output signals associated with output ports OP 3   271  through OP 6   277 , are processed by signature compactor  221 . While the probability of detecting a fault visible through output ports OP 3  through OP 6  may not be 100%, it may be sufficiently small to pose an acceptable evaluation standard.  
         [0029]     In the example shown in  FIG. 2 , processed signal  257  is buffered by an interface module  225  in order to expose observable signal  259  to processor module  223 . While interface module  225  may be transparent or essentially transparent (in which processed signal  257  is equal to or essentially equal to observable signal  259 ), in other embodiments, interface module  225  may store processed signal  259  in a register for subsequent retrieval by processor module  223 , or it may modify signal characteristics, e.g., modify voltage levels in order to be compatible with processor module  223 , and the like.  
         [0030]      FIG. 3  illustrates an example architecture  300  of test logic, which may be used, for example, in the various systems illustrated in  FIGS. 2, 4 ,  5 ,  6 , and  7 , in accordance with embodiments of the invention. An input source  301  provides digital activity for an electronic circuit  303 . In the example shown in  FIG. 2 , input source  301  corresponds to FPGA module  203 ; however, in  FIG. 7  input source  301  corresponds to pattern generator  741 . Any suitable input source  301  may be used to provide digital activity for the circuit without departing from the invention.  
         [0031]     Electronic circuit  303  has a plurality of output ports that are partitioned into subsets of output ports comprising a subset of observable outputs  353  and another subset of outputs  355 . The user typically partitions signals that are to be verified into a plurality of subsets, depending upon whether associated circuitry is deemed by the user to be critical or not critical. In the example shown in  FIG. 3 , the section of circuitry associated with subset  353  is deemed to be critical. However, the section of circuitry associated with subset  355  is not deemed as being as critical, in which a probability of detecting faults need not be 100% certain or essentially 100% certain. In architecture  300 , observe logic module  305  corresponds to signature compactor  221  in  FIG. 2 , to comparator  431  in  FIG. 4 , to signature compactor  521  in  FIG. 5 , to signature compactor  621  in  FIG. 6 , and to signature compactor  721  in  FIG. 7 . An interface module  307  corresponds to interface module  225  in  FIG. 2 , to interface module  425  in  FIG. 4 , to interface module  525  in  FIG. 5 , to interface module  625  in  FIG. 6 , and to interface module  725  in  FIG. 7 . A processor module  309  corresponds to processor module  223  in  FIG. 2 , to processor module  423  in  FIG. 4 , to processor module  523  in  FIG. 5 , to processor module  623  in  FIG. 6 , and to processor module  723  in  FIG. 7 .  
         [0032]      FIG. 4  illustrates test logic  400  for testing electronic circuitry by increasing the visibility of the electronic circuitry with available tester IO channels in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Test logic  400  is similar to test logic  200 ; however, observe logic  305  (as shown in  FIG. 3 ) comprises a comparator  431  rather than the signature compactor  221  as shown in  FIG. 2 . A data pattern (that is formed by signals from output ports OP 3   471 -OP 6   477 ) is compared to a predetermined value  433 , which is known to be correct a priori. In the embodiment illustrated in  FIG. 4 , predetermined value  433  is obtained from a component of test logic  400  (e.g., a FPGA module  403 ), or, alternatively, from an external component, such as from the processor module  423 . If trace circuit  401  is running at chip speed, an interface module  425  may comprise a register to capture the result of the comparison (corresponding to processed signal  457 ) so that processor module  423  can subsequently read the result (corresponding to observable signal  459 ). A processed signal  457  indicates either a “correct comparison” or an “incorrect comparison.” Interface module  425  presents the corresponding results to processor module  423  as a “go/no-go” indication (indicating whether the section of trace circuit  401  is properly operating or is not properly operating) of the operation of trace circuit  401 .  
         [0033]      FIG. 5  illustrates test logic  500  for testing electronic circuitry by increasing the visibility of the electronic circuitry with available tester IO channels in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Test logic  500  is similar to test logic  200 ; however, in this example, the interface module  525  includes a comparator  535 . Comparator  535  compares a signature generated by a signature compactor  521 . As with signature compactor  221 , signature compactor  521  generates a signature in response to data patterns (that are formed by signals from output ports OP 3   571 -OP 6   577 ) provided by trace circuit  501 . Comparator  535 , which is contained in interface module  525 , compares the signature (corresponding to a processed signal  557 ) with a predetermined value  533 , which is known to be the correct signature. The output of comparator  535  corresponds to observable signal  559 . In the embodiment, predetermined value  533  is provided by a system computer  523 , although the predetermined value  533  may be provide by another external element, by a component of test logic  500 , or in any other suitable manner without departing from the invention. An observable signal  559  (which is an output of comparator  535 ) provides a “go/no-go indication” to system computer  523 .  
         [0034]      FIG. 6  illustrates test logic  600  for testing electronic circuitry by increasing the visibility of the electronic circuitry with available tester IO channels in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. A FPGA module  603  supports emulation, as with FPGA module  203  in  FIG. 2 , as well as a pattern generator  637 . Pattern generator  637  corresponds to a specific user design mapped into FPGA module  603 . Pattern generator  637  generates digital patterns having a deterministic pattern or a pseudo random pattern. While FPGA module  203  provides activity for trace circuit  201  in  FIG. 2 , the digital patterns result from circuitry that is being emulated. Pattern generator  637  typically provides digital activity that enable test logic  600  to determine proper operation (e.g., corresponding in desired signature values) more expeditiously than with FPGA module  203 . The other components of test logic  600  are similar to the corresponding components of test logic  600 , where a trace circuit  601  corresponds to trace circuit  201 , a signature compactor  621  corresponds to signature compactor  221 , an interface module  625  corresponds to interface module  225 , and a processor module  623  corresponds to processor module  223 . Also, a processed signal  657  corresponds to processed signal  257  and an observable signal  659  corresponds to observable signal  259  as shown in  FIG. 2 .  
         [0035]      FIG. 7  illustrates test logic  700  for testing electronic circuitry by increasing the visibility of the electronic circuitry with available tester IO channels in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Test logic  700  is similar to test logic  600 . However, in this example, a pattern generator  741  is implemented as a separate component of the test logic  701  from the FPGA module  703 . Test logic  700  selects a source of activity for the trace circuit  701  through a multiplexer  739  by providing a multiplexer control  779  from any suitable source, such as from a processor module  723 . Multiplexer  739  can be configured so that IP 1  signals  705 -IP 6   715  correspond to test signals TS 2 , 1   785  -TS 2 , 6   787  that are generated by the emulation functionality of FPGA module  703  or with test signals TS 1 , 1   781 -TS 1 , 6   783  that are generated by pattern generator  741 . The other components of test logic  700  are similar to the corresponding components of test logic  700 , where a trace circuit  701  corresponds to trace circuit  201 , a signature compactor  721  corresponds to signature compactor  221 , an interface module  725  corresponds to interface module  225 , and a processor module  723  corresponds to processor module  223 . Also, a processed signal  757  corresponds to processed signal  257  and an observable signal  759  corresponds to observable signal  259  as shown in  FIG. 2 .  
         [0036]      FIG. 8  illustrates a signature compactor  800  with linear feedback shift registers (LFSR) that may be used in various systems and methods according to the invention, including in example systems  200 ,  500 ,  600 , and  700  as shown in  FIGS. 2, 5 ,  6 , and  7 . Signature compactor  800  comprises two shift register configurations that are clocked with a clock (not shown) of the system logic. Signature compactor processes signals received from output ports OP 3   271 , OP 4   273 , OP 5   275 , and OP 6   277 . The first shift register configuration comprises shift registers S 0   801 , S 1   803 , and S 2   805 . The configuration uses feedback from the previous states through exclusive OR (XOR) gates  807 - 811 . Such a feedback configuration is often signified in the art as linear feedback shift registers (LFSR). The second shift register configuration is similarly constructed and comprises shift registers S 0   813 , S 1   815 , and S 2   817  and XOR gates  819 - 823 . Each shift register configuration processes two output port signals (which serve as inputs to the shift register configuration). The first shift register configuration processes OP 3   271  and OP 4   273 , and the second shift register configuration processes OP 5   275  and OP 6   277 . Because each shift register configuration processes a plurality of input signals, each configuration is often referred as a “multiple input shift register” (MISR) structure.  
         [0037]     The signature determined by signature compactor  800  comprises the last state of the shift register configurations. In the example shown in  FIG. 8 , the signature corresponds to the last outputs of shift registers  801 - 805  and  813 - 817  after compacting data from a trace circuit, such as trace circuit  201  illustrated in  FIG. 2 . The length of the shift register configurations is engineered so that the probability of aliasing is within an acceptable probability. For example, when each shift register configuration has three shift registers (k=3), the probability of aliasing (i.e., obtaining a correct signature even though trace circuit  201  has a fault that is undetected) is approximately 2 −k *100=2 −3 ×100 or 12.5%). For a practical situation, this probability is likely too large. However, the probability of aliasing can be substantially reduced by increasing the length of each shift register configuration (and hence the number of shift registers, e.g., such that the number of shift registers is 32 (k=32), in which the probability of aliasing is approximately 2 −32 ×100).  
         [0038]     The following example illustrates the operation of signature compactor  800 . The initial state of each shift registers  801 ,  803 ,  805 ,  813 ,  815 , and  817  is “zero”, corresponding to a configuration state of ‘000000’. In the example, the signature is calculated over two system clock cycles, where the values of the input signals (which are received from output ports OP 3   271 , OP 4   273 , OP 5   275 , and OP 6   277 ) are ‘1010’ preceding the first clock duration and ‘1100’ preceding the second clock duration. After the first clock duration, the configuration state is ‘100100’. After the second clock duration, the configuration state is ‘111010’. Thus, the signature is calculated to be ‘111010’. The calculated signature can be compared to a predetermined value, which corresponds to trace circuit  201  (as shown in  FIG. 2 ) that is operating properly. Signature compactor  800  may calculate the signature over a different number of clock durations, where the number of clock durations being substantially larger than two.  
         [0039]      FIG. 9  illustrates a signature compactor  900  with linear cellular automata registers (LCAR) that may be used in various systems and methods according to the invention, such as systems  200 ,  500 ,  600 , and  700  shown in  FIGS. 2, 5 ,  6 , and  7 . Signature compactor  900  is an alternative embodiment of the various types of signature compactors described above. Signature compactor  900  has two LCAR configurations, where each LCAR configuration comprises two types of cells that are clocked by the clock (not shown) of test logic  200 . The first cell type is a rule  150  cell (cells  903 ,  907 ,  911 , and  915 ) and a rule  90  cell (cells  901 ,  905 ,  909 , and  913 ). (A rule  150  cell and a rule  90  cell are well known in the art of cellular automata.) The signature is the last state of the LCAR configurations after compacting digital data from trace circuit  201 . The rule  150  cell computes its next state as the exclusive-OR of its present state and of the present states of its two neighbors. The rule  90  cell computes its next state as the exclusive-OR of the present states of its two neighbors. (The state of a neighbor is the current output of the neighboring cell.)  
         [0040]     Thus, an architecture of apparatuses for testing electronic circuitry that reduces the number of testing channels, along with method associated therewith, have been described herein. While the apparatuses and methods of the present invention have been described in terms of the above-illustrated embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the various aspects of the present invention are not limited to the embodiments described. The present invention can be practiced with modification and alteration within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. The description is thus to be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive of the present invention.

Technology Category: 3