Circuit design for built-in current testing

Built-in current (BIC) testing has proven to be useful through a number of IC fabrication experiments. The experience gained from these experiments is summarized. From the information presented, a set of required rules is derived for the design of circuits employing BIC sensors. It is indicated that the system partition is the key design element affecting both the area overhead needed for BIC sensors and the testing clock rate. It is shown that special design rules must be observed during the design in order to avoid abnormally high I/sub ddq/ currents. It is concluded that by using BIC sensors it is possible to build small area overhead, self-testing ICs.<<ETX>>