An Efficient Test Scheduling Method Based on Dynamic Pairing

Test scheduling is a process that manages tests within a System-on-Chip (SoC) to minimize test time by allocating test resources and adjusting priorities. Efficient test scheduling offers cost saving opportunities by reducing test time without compromising test coverage. Since test scheduling is a NP-hard problem, conventional methods adopt optimization or heuristic algorithms that leverage metrics of each test. However, due to the interdependence of tests based on how limited resources are allocated, finding the optimal solution to minimize test time is challenging. In this article, a dynamic pairing algorithm is proposed to consider the mutual influence of tests on each other in the test scheduling process. The proposed method identifies the available test resources for a specific pair and minimizes the test time of the paired modules under identified constraints. Additionally, the proposed algorithm employs a heuristic-based approach to test scheduling to reduce the CPU time needed for scheduling. The proposed heuristic algorithm sequentially schedules test target modules and determines the optimal test schedule through dynamic pairing. Experiments have been carried out on diverse benchmarks and under various constraint conditions. The results indicate that the proposed method achieves shorter test times on average in comparison to conventional methods.