Transparent-Segmented-Scan without the Routing Overhead of Segmented-Scan

We introduce a combination of segmented-scan and transparent-scan referred to as transparent-segmented-scan. Segmented-scan is a design-for-testability approach for reducing the power dissipation of scan-based tests. Transparent-scan is a test application scheme that was proposed as a way to obtain highly compacted test sequences. The combination allows the generation of compact test sequences with reduced power dissipation. Moreover, since transparent-scan views scan shift and functional capture cycles uniformly, both scan shift and functional capture power are reduced together. We explore a particular implementation of transparent-segmented-scan that does not require the scan chain input and output to be routed to all the segments of a scan chain, as in segmented-scan. This avoids the routing overhead of segmented-scan. It is made possible by the properties of transparent-scan that also contribute to test compaction.