Low Power Scan Chain Reordering Method with Limited Routing Congestion for Code-based Test Data Compression

Various test data compression techniques have been developed to reduce the test costs of system-on-a-chips. In this paper, a scan chain reordering algorithm for code-based test data compression techniques is proposed. Scan cells within an acceptable relocation distance are ranked to reduce the number of conflicts in all test patterns and rearranged by a positioning algorithm to minimize the routing overhead. The proposed method is demonstrated on ISCAS '89 benchmark circuits with their physical layout by using a 180 nm CMOS process library. Significant improvements are observed in compression ratio and test power consumption with minor routing overhead.