Testing arithmetic coprocessor in system environment

Summary form only given. Arithmetic coprocessors (AC) are quite complex circuits and testing them is an important and not easy problem (not covered in the literature). Analyzing diagnostic software for IBM PCs we found that the testing procedures for ACs are limited to simple basic checks. Hence we decided to develop efficient test procedures in a systematic way. They are executed on the main processor and generate appropriate stimuli to AC functional blocks (e.g. instruction sequencer, data path units) and verify test responses. An important contribution of this paper is the integration of various approaches to testing and increased test observability of test results assured by on-chip event monitors and system exceptions.