Title :
Soft-core embedded processor-based Built-In Self-Test of FPGAs: A case study
Author :
Dutton, Bradley F. ; Stroud, Charles E.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Electr. & Comput. Eng., Auburn Univ., Auburn, AL, USA
Abstract :
This paper presents the results of a case study which investigates the use of an embedded soft-core processor to perform Built-In Self-Test (BIST) of the logic resources in Xilinx Virtex-5 Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs). We show that the approach reduces the complexity of an external BIST controller and the number of external reconfigurations, making it particularly appealing for in-system testing of high-reliability and fault-tolerant systems with FPGAs. However, the overall test time is not improved due to an increase in the size of the required configuration files as a consequence of the inclusion of the soft-core embedded processor logic, whose relative irregularity results in less effective compression of configuration data files.
Keywords :
embedded systems; fault tolerance; field programmable gate arrays; integrated circuit testing; parallel processing; BIST controller; FPGA; Xilinx Virtex-5 field programmable gate arrays; built-in self-test; configuration data files; fault-tolerant systems; in-system testing; logic resources; soft-core embedded processor logic; Built-in self-test; Circuit testing; Fabrics; Fault tolerant systems; Field programmable gate arrays; Logic testing; Programmable logic arrays; Reconfigurable logic; Routing; System testing; Built-In Self-Test; Fault Tolerance; Field Programmable Gate Array; System-Test; Virtex-5;
Conference_Titel :
System Theory (SSST), 2010 42nd Southeastern Symposium on
Conference_Location :
Tyler, TX
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4244-5690-1
DOI :
10.1109/SSST.2010.5442812
