Test education for VLSI systems design engineers

Abstract

The implementation of entire systems on VLSI chips provides an opportunity for a top-down test strategy. This is possible if the systems designer is familiar with the basic concepts in test, design for testability, and system diagnosis. The paper proposes a two-step education program. The first coarse, "Essentials of Electronic Testing ", teaches the basic principles of testing. It is an undergraduate-level course and should be included in the core curriculum in addition to a VLSI design course. The second course, "Advanced Concepts in VLSI Testing", is a graduate-level course. It is useful for VLSI CAD engineers and for researchers.