The latest version of Mentor Graphics' TestKompress compression and ATPG generation tool brings significant enhancements in functionality and productivity. One of the most time-consuming aspects of test is debugging circuit issues that inhibit scan testing and lead to lower coverage. TestKompress 2007 now comes with a user interface called DFTVisualizer, a graphical environment for managing the complexity of debugging design-for-test (DFT) related issues.
DFTVisualizer includes several powerful graphical utilities, including hierarchical design and schematic viewers as well as waveform views that allow users to quickly traverse the design data to pinpoint test related problems. These utilities are tightly coupled with the ATPG engine and the design-rule checks (DRC) in a productive debug environment.
Thanks to new process distribution technology, the tool's ATPG Accelerator capability meets the demands of circuits that are growing both in terms of size and complexity. This ATPG distribution technique is both scalable and repeatable, giving identical results regardless of how the processes are distributed, so it remains flexible regardless of the varying process grid resources. The ATPG Accelerator has built-in fault-tolerant capabilities to ensure that network-related issues don't impact the test generation process. ATPG Accelerator's distributed processing is fully compatible with Platform Computing's LSF and Sun's Grid Engine batch network scheduling products. Since no special option or license is required, ATPG Accelerator is available to all current TestKompress or FastScan customers.
As designs move to 90 nm and below, there is a need for more comprehensive fault modeling to maintain test quality. With more companies now striving towards lower DPM (defect per million) levels, TestKompress 2007 has added support for physically-aware bridging fault models. This takes fault coverage beyond the logical aspects of the design by taking into account its physical attributes. These models get their physical information directly from the Calibre DFM database, which is populated by the Calibre YieldAnalyzer product, thus providing more precise test results, and improved defect detection.
DFTVisualizer, ATPG Accelerator, and physically-aware fault modeling will be available in TestKompress 2007 on January 1, and will also be included in FastScan 2007, Mentor' ATPG tool.
www.mentor.com/dft