A generic resource distribution and test scheduling scheme for embedded core-based SoCs

We present a novel test scheduling algorithm for embedded core-based system-on-chips based on a graph-theoretic formulation. Given a system integrated with a set of cores and a set of test resources, we select a test for each core from a set of alternative test sets, and schedule it in a way to evenly balance the resource usage and to ultimately reduce the test application time. Improvements to the basic algorithm are sought by grouping the cores and assigning higher priorities to those with smaller number of alternate test sets. The algorithm is also extended for solving the general test scheduling problem where multiple test sets are selected for each core from a set of alternatives to facilitate the testing for various fault models. A simulation study is performed to quantify the performance of the proposed scheduling approach.