Hardware implementation of the double-tree scan architecture

Abstract

In a scan-based test architecture, the scan power and and test data volume can be reduced by utilizing a double tree scan (DTS) architecture. This paper presents a novel hardware implementation of the DTS architecture and compares the hardware overhead with the conventional scan architecture. The implementation proposed utilizes a clock structure which greatly decreases the number of clocked flip-flops and thereby reduces power consumption. A test chip is designed and fabricated in a 0.5 μm CMOS technology to verify the power saving properties of the architecture.