An open notation for memory tests

Historically many ways of expressing memory tests have been used, varying from the use of general purpose programming languages to special notations. A notation, originally introduced for march tests in 1990, has been adopted and extended by many researchers. This paper extends that notation, in a systematic and open way, to a memory test language which allows march tests, pseudo march tests, tests involving topological neighborhoods (to cover pattern sensitive faults), line mode tests, and pseudo random tests, to be expressed in a unified manner. The syntax and semantics facilitate the specification of memory tests in a compact and readable way. Most important, the open structure allows extensions to the notation when necessary. The notation presented in this paper is a sequel to an earlier much more confined notation.