Techniques for verifying a reliability of a memory

Rather than merely carrying out a BIST test by verifying whether a memory cell accurately stores a "1" or "0" under normal read/write conditions, aspects of the present discloser relate to BIST tests that test the read and/or write margins of a cell. During this BIST testing, the read and/or write margins can be incrementally stressed until a failure point is determined for the cell. In this way, "weak" memory cells in an array can be identified and appropriate action can be taken, if necessary, to deal with these weak cells.