A design for testability method using RTL partitioning

Abstract

We will present a Design For Testability (DFT) method on Register Transfer Level (RTL). In our method RTL circuits are partitioned into some testable blocks, and each of the blocks is isolated by using primary pins and additional multiplexers so that automatic test pattern generation (ATPG) can be applied for each of the blocks. The experimental results for some RTL circuits designed with Bchart show that our method reduces the number of test patterns from a seventeenth to an eightieth and 10 to 30% of area overhead for test circuits in comparison with a full scan design method.