Application of Saluja-Karpovsky compactors to test responses with many unknowns
Janak H. Patel, S.S. Lumetta, Sudhakar M. Reddy · 2003
This paper addresses the problem of compacting test responses in the presence of unknowns at the input of the compactor by exploiting the capabilities of well-known error detection and correction codes. The technique, called i-Compact, uses Saluja-Karpovsky Space Compactors, but permits detection and location of errors in the presence of unknown logic (X) values with help from the ATE. The advantages of i-Compact are: 1. Small number of output pins front the compactors for a required error detection capability; 2. Small tester memory for storing expected responses; 3. Flexibility of choosing several different combinations of number of X values and number of bit errors for error detection without altering the hardware compactor; 4. Same hardware capable of identifying the line that produced an error in presence of unknowns; 5. Use of non-proprietary codes found in the literature of 1950s; and 6. Independent of the circuit and the test generator.