Exploiting hardware sharing in high-level synthesis for partial scan optimization

A new approach to high level synthesis, which simultaneously addresses testability and resource utilization, is presented. We explore the relationship between hardware sharing, loops in the synthesized data-path, and partial scan overhead. Since loops make a circuit hard to test, a comprehensive analysis of the sources of loops in the data path, created during high level synthesis, is provided. The paper introduces the problem of breaking CDFG loops with a minimal number of scan registers. Subsequent scheduling and assignment avoid formation of loops in the data path by sharing the scan registers, while ensuring high resource utilization. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of the technique to synthesize easily testable data paths, with significantly less partial scan cost than a gate-level partial scan approach.