Protocol aware test .. It has a role, but where? And how?

This panel highlights the concern that existing automatic test equipment (ATE) is falling short when it comes to mission-mode testing of devices with multifunctional capabilities, comprised of many cores. The complexity of SOCs is making it increasingly difficult to test with traditional test methodologies (e.g. complex inter-core interactions, with variable behavior, and asynchronous interfaces). This would seem to dictate that the traditional functional test architecture of today´s ATE is unable to adequately accommodate. In summary, the mission mode test issues need to be addressed, but the question is whether this will be in the form of more advanced DFT, the protocol aware tester, or a hybrid solution.