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Scan Chains

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19 views3 pages

Scan Chains

Uploaded by

nisha.gajjar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Scan chains – the backbone of DFT

What are scan chains: Scan chains are the elements in scan-based designs
that are used to shift-in and shift-out test data. A scan chain is formed by a
number of flops connected back to back in a chain with the output of one flop
connected to another. The input of first flop is connected to the input pin of the
chip (called scan-in) from where scan data is fed. The output of the last flop is
connected to the output pin of the chip (called scan-out) which is used to take the
shifted data out. The figure below shows a scan chain.

A scan chain

Purpose of scan chains: As said above, scan chains are inserted into designs
to shift the test data into the chip and out of the chip. This is done in order to
make every point in the chip controllable and observable as discussed below.

How normal flop is transformed into a scan flop: The flops in the design have
to be modified in order to be put in the scan chains. To do so, the normal input
(D) of the flip-flop has to be multiplexed with the scan input. A signal called scan-
enable is used to control which input will propagate to the output.
Figure showing transition of a normal flop to scan flop

If scan-enable = 0, data at D pin of the flop will propagate to Q at the next active
edge
If scan-enable= 1, data present at scan-in input will propagate to Q at the next
active edge

Scan terminology: Before we talk further, it will be useful to know some signals
used in scan chains which are as follows:
 Scan-in: Input to the flop/scan-chain that is used to provide scan data into
it
 Scan-out: Output from flop/scan-chain that provides the scanned data to
the next flop/output
 Scan-enable: Input to the flop that controls whether scan_in data or
functional data will propagate to output

Purpose of testing using scan: Scan testing is carried out for various
reasons, two most prominent of them are:
 To test stuck-at faults in manufactured devices
 To test the paths in the manufactured devices for delay; i.e. to test whether
each path is working at functional frequency or not
How a scan chain functions: The fundamental goal of scan chains is to make
each node in the circuit controllable and observable through limited number of
patterns by providing a bypass path to each flip-flop. Basically, it follows these
steps:
1. Assert scan_enable (make it high) so as to enable (SI -> Q) path for each
flop
2. Keep shifting in the scan data until the intended values at intended nodes
are reached
3. De-assert scan_enable (for one pulse of clock in case of stuck-at testing
and two or more cycles in case of transition testing) to enable D->Q path so that
the combinational cloud output can be captured at the next clock edge.
4. Again assert scan_enable and shift out the data through scan_out

How Chain length is decided: By chain length, we mean the number of flip-
flops in a single scan chain. Larger the chain length, more the number of cycles
required to shift the data in and out. However, considering the number of flops
remains same, smaller chain length means more number of input/output ports is
needed as scan_in and scan_out ports. As

Number of ports required = 2 X Number of scan chains

Since for each scan chain, scan_in and scan_out port is needed. Also,

Number of cycles required to run a pattern = Length of largest


scan chain in design

Suppose, there are 10000 flops in the design and there are 6 ports available as
input/output. This means we can make (6/2=) 3 chains. If we make scan chains
of 9000, 100 and 900 flops, it will be inefficient as 9000 cycles will be required to
shift the data in and out. We need to distribute flops in scan chains almost
equally. If we make chain lengths as 3300, 3400 and 3300, the number of cycles
required is 3400.

Keeping almost equal number of flops in each scan chain is referred to as chain
balancing.

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