According to one embodiment, a design support device executes a first processing. The first processing includes setting a control value group for a semiconductor element. The semiconductor element includes gates including first and second gates. The control value group includes a first time difference between first and second timings. A voltage is applied to the first gate at the first timing. A voltage is applied to the second gate at the second timing. The first processing includes calculating a characteristic value from an output result when an electrical signal corresponding to the control value group is input to the semiconductor element. The first processing includes calculating a first function from history data including not less than one data set. The data set includes the control value group and a score based on the characteristic value. The design support device sets a new control value group.

A system-on-chip (SoC) includes multiple critical components and a testing system to test the critical components. The critical components include an intellectual property (IP) core and an associated logic circuit. The testing system includes a controller, a fault injector, and a masking circuit. The controller is configured to receive a test initiation request and generate first and second select instructions. The fault injector is configured to generate and inject a set of fault inputs in the logic circuit based on the first select instruction to test the associated logic circuit and the IP core. The IP core is configured to generate a set of responses that is associated with the testing of the logic circuit and the associated IP core. The masking circuit is configured to mask and output the set of responses when the second select instruction indicates a first value and a second value, respectively.

A chip testing method including the following operations is disclosed: outputting a plurality of testing sequences to a plurality of scan chains by an encoding circuit; generating a plurality of scan output data according to the plurality of testing sequences by the plurality of scan chains; and determining whether an error exists in the plurality of scan chains or not according to the plurality of scan output data by a decoding circuit.

This disclosure describes a reduced pin bus that can be used on integrated circuits or embedded cores within integrated circuits. The bus may be used for serial access to circuits where the availability of pins on ICs or terminals on cores is limited. The bus may be used for a variety of serial communication operations such as, but not limited to, serial communication related test, emulation, debug, and/or trace operations of an IC or core design. Other aspects of the disclosure include the use of reduced pin buses for emulation, debug, and trace operations and for functional operations.

A scan output flip-flop includes a selection circuit, a control circuit, and a scan-out stage circuit. The selection circuit is controlled by a first test enable signal to transmit a data signal on a first input terminal or a test signal on a second input terminal to an output terminal to serve as an input signal. The control circuit is controlled by a first clock signal and a second clock signal to generate a first control signal and a second control signal according to the input signal. The scan-out stage circuit receives only one of the first control signal and the second control signal, and is controlled by the first test enable signal and a second test enable signal to generate a scan-out signal.

The performance of a microelectronic circuit can be configured by making an operating parameter assume an operating parameter value. An operating method comprises selectively setting the microelectronic circuit into a test mode that differs from a normal operating mode of the microelectronic circuit, and utilizing said test mode to input test input signals consisting of test input values into one or more adaptive processing paths within the microelectronic circuit. An adaptive processing path comprises processing logic and register circuits configured to produce output values from input values input to them. The performance of such an adaptive processing path can be configured by making an operating parameter assume an operating parameter value. The method comprises making said one or more adaptive processing paths form test output values on the basis of the respective test input values input to them, and forming a set of test output signals by collecting said test output values given by said one or more adaptive processing paths. The method comprises examining said set of test output signals, and forming a test result on the basis of said examining, and using said test result to select and set an operating parameter value for said operating parameter.

An example integrated circuit (IC) die in a multi-die IC package, the multi-die IC package having a test access port (TAP) comprising a test data input (TDI), test data output (TDO), test clock (TCK), and test mode select (TMS), is described. The IC die includes a Joint Test Action Group (JTAG) controller having a JTAG interface that includes a TDI, a TDO, a TCK, and a TMS, a first output coupled to first routing in the multi-die IC package, a first input coupled to the first routing or to second routing in the multi-die IC package, a master return path coupled to the first input, and a wrapper circuit configured to couple the TDI of the TAP to the TDI of the JTAG controller, and selectively couple, in response to a first control signal, the TDO of the TAP to either the master return path or the TDO of the JTAG controller.

This disclosure describes a reduced pin bus that can be used on integrated circuits or embedded cores within integrated circuits. The bus may be used for serial access to circuits where the availability of pins on ICs or terminals on cores is limited. The bus may be used for a variety of serial communication operations such as, but not limited to, serial communication related test, emulation, debug, and/or trace operations of an IC or core design. Other aspects of the disclosure include the use of reduced pin buses for emulation, debug, and trace operations and for functional operations.

A system-on-chip includes a first scan register being in a first core and being closest to an input port of the first core; an inverting circuit on a feedback path of the first scan register; a second scan register in the first core; and a logic circuit on a data path between the first scan register and the second scan register. In a test mode for an AT-SPEED test of the logic circuit, the inverting circuit generates test data by inverting scan data that are output from the first scan register, the first scan register stores the test data in response to a first pulse of a clock signal, the logic circuit generates result data based on the test data that are output from the first scan register, and the second scan register stores the result data in response to a second pulse of the clock signal.

A test apparatus is provided for use with a mainframe and an adapter. The test apparatus includes a logical adapter interface unit and a control system. The logical adapter interface unit is interposable between the adapter and the mainframe whereby an I/O signal transmittable from the adapter and to the mainframe is transmitted through the logical adapter interface unit. The logical adapter interface unit is configured to manipulate the I/O signal. The control system is coupled to the logical adapter interface unit and the mainframe and is configured to control manipulations of the I/O signal by the logical adapter interface unit to mimic a condition of I/O traffic being run through the adapter and to log a response of the mainframe to the manipulations.