LogicVision enhances test tool to allow 'vectorless' transfer

Essentially, ET 4.0 combines the current icBIST 3.3 with a new module called IC Debug. The existing icBIST 3.3 product allows chip designers to install built-in self-test (BIST) structures for logic, memory and phase-locked loops (PLLs). IC Debug makes generation and translation of test vectors unnecessary and provides an ATE-independent user interface that permits hierarchical diagnostics.

IC Debug capabilities run directly on the supported automatic test equipment systems, which at this point include Credence Systems Corp.'s Duo and Quartet, Advantest Corp.'s 66xx and Teradyne Inc.'s Catalyst product lines. These represent most of the market, said Dwayne Burek, chief technical director at LogicVision.

Key to IC Debug is a new way to hand off test data to ATE systems. Until now, Burek said, the handoff required a designer to create test patterns, and compile them and translate them for a tester. With the new product, he said, all of the needed information about the embedded test controllers is contained in the LogicVision database, making automatic test pattern generation unnecessary.

Direct server link

"There's a link between the tester and our server, with minimal work on the test side," Burek said. "Instead of calling a pattern, the tester calls our server. Patterns are created by our server as we go along, and loaded directly into the tester through an API [application programming interface]. It's a very efficient process."

Also provided by IC Debug is an interactive user interface that's independent of the ATE system.

IC Debug lets users create real-time diagnostics to check ATE-independent test pattern and diagnostic formats, test portability and test programming time. It supports automatic generation of manufacturing tests for logic, memory and PLLs. It also offers a hierarchical execution and diagnostic capability.

The graphical user interface lets users display all of the embedded test capabilities that exist on the IC under test. Test engineers can adjust any parameter or operational mode of any embedded test controller, and sequence one or more controllers into a specific test flow. Once a test flow has been created, a run-time server can automatically carry out the test flow through interaction with the embedded test controllers on the chip. Test results can then be logged in real-time.