Test Clock Domain Optimization to Avoid Scan Shift Failure Due to Flip-Flop Simultaneous Triggering

Abstract

This paper presents a design for testability technique to avoid scan shift failure due to flip-flop simultaneous triggering. The proposed technique changes test clock domains of flip-flops in the regions where severe IR-drop problems occur. A massive parallel algorithm using a graphic processor unit is adopted to speed up the IR-drop simulation during optimization. The experimental data on large benchmark circuits show that peak IR-drop values are reduced by 15% on average compared with the circuit after simple MD-SCAN partition. Our proposed technique quickly optimizes a half-million-gate design within two hours.