Low power BIST by filtering non-detecting vectors

In this paper, two techniques to reduce the energy and the average power co nsumption of the system are proposed. They are based on the fact that as th e test progresses, the detection efficiency of the pseudo-random vectors de creases very quickly. Many of the pseudo-random vectors will not detect fau lts in spite of consuming a significant amount of energy from the power sup ply. In order to prevent this energy consumption, a filtering of the non-de tecting vectors and a reseeding strategy are proposed. These techniques are evaluated on the set of ISCAS-85 benchmark circuits. E xtensive simulations have been made using the SAIL energy simulator showing that, in large circuits, the energy consumption and the average power savi ngs reach 90.0% with a mean value of 74.2% with the filtering technique, an d 97.2% with an average value of 90.9% with the reseeding strategy.