Automotive IC On-line Test Techniques and the Application of Deterministic ATPG-Based Runtime Test

ISO 26262 sets requirements for automotive safety systems to decrease hazards caused by LSI logic failures. Several approaches are possible to determine that a logical fault exists and for the system to respond before it becomes a system failure. However, these approaches are often expensive in terms of logic and design overhead. They can take many cycles before a high percentage of potential fault sites are checked. This paper presents a deterministic ATPG-based approach to detect faults during runtime operation. The benefit is lower area and less design impact compared to logic BIST while providing high coverage quickly and low power operation. We describe the implementation of deterministic ATPG-based runtime test (DART) based on embedded compression technology implemented in ICs for the R-Car autonomous vehicle platform.