Testing: Previously the most neglected area, chip testing must begin during the chip-design phase and continue through fabrication

Designing and fabricating a very large-scale integrated chip in one month is pointless if the chip does not work. Yet methods of testing such a chip quickly and cheaply have received scant attention until recently, test engineers say. The area has suffered from both a lack of understanding by engineering managers of the importance of testing and a lack of computer tools to help the test engineer design test programs. The technologies for rapid design and fabrication of custom chips have far outpaced the technology of testing.