BIST Based Performance Evaluation of Field Programmable Analog Arrays

A typical field programmable analog array consists of configurable analog arrays (CABs), I/O blocks, an interconnection network and memory registers for device programming. For testing purposes, this FPAA partitioning also applies. Taking advantage of the inherent programmability of the FPAAs, BIST (built-in-self-testing) based scheme is used to obtain an error signal representing the difference between fault free and faulty circuits. A comparison between the various testing methodologies is done in terms of area overhead, circuit performance degradation, fault coverage etc.