Stress testing of combinational VLSI circuits using existing test sets

We present a stress testing method which can provide an attractive low-cost alternative to burn-in. The technique is based on reordering of test vectors such that a desired circuit activity or electrical stress is generated across the VLSI chip while achieving a high coverage for stuck-at defects. The test methodology can also be used to generate localized electrical or thermal stress in a circuit. Such testing procedure can be important for weeding out circuits with infant mortality problems. Experimental results on benchmark circuits show that the stress requirements can be changed by more than a factor of 4 by reordering the stuck-at test vectors.