Using Roving STARs for On-Line Testing and Diagnosis of FPGAs in Fault-Tolerant Applications

  • Authors:
  • Miron Abramovici;Charles Stroud;Carter Hamilton;Sajitha Wijesuriya;Vinay Verma

  • Affiliations:
  • -;-;-;-;-

  • Venue:
  • ITC '99 Proceedings of the 1999 IEEE International Test Conference
  • Year:
  • 1999

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Abstract

In this paper we present a novel integratedapproach to on-line FPGA testing, diagnosis, and fault-tolerance,to be used in high-reliability and high-availabilityhardware. The test process takes place in self-testing areas(STARs) of the FPGA, without disturbing the normal systemoperation. The entire chip is eventually tested by havingSTARs gradually rove across the FPGA. Our approach guaranteescomplete testing of programmable logic blocks andinterconnect, and provides maximum diagnostic resolution.A new fault-tolerant (FT) technique allows using partiallydefective FPGA resources for normal operation, providinglonger mission life-span in the presence of faults. We alsointroduce the basic concepts of a new dynamic FT method,where spare resources needed to bypass a fault are alwayspresent in the neighborhood of the located fault, thus simplifyingfault-bypassing.