Self-testing of multicore processors

Abstract

The purpose of this chapter is to develop a review of state-of-the-art techniques and methodologies for the self-testing of multicore processors. The chapter is divided into two main sections: (a) self-testing solutions covering general-purpose multicore microprocessors such as chip multiprocessors (CMPs) and (b) self-testing solutions targeting application-specific multicore designs known as SoCs. In the first section (general-purpose), a taxonomy of current self-testing approaches is initially presented, followed by a review of the state-of-the-art for each class. The second section (application-specific) provides an overview of the test scheduling flows for multicore SoCs, as well as the testing strategies for the individual components (sub-systems) of such systems.