The disclosure describes an apparatus for testing a component, wherein the apparatus is configured to apply a magnetic field with a magnetic field orientation from a set of magnetic field orientations to the component. The apparatus is further configured to perform a test on the component in the presence of the respective magnetic fields with the respective magnetic field orientations from the set of magnetic field orientations to obtain an information characterizing an operation of the component. The apparatus is also configured to determine a test result based on the information characterizing the operation of the component in the presence of different magnetic fields with different magnetic field orientations from the set of magnetic field orientations. The disclosure also describes a method of testing and a computer-readable storage device for implementing the method and provides more efficiency in view of reliability and costs.

A method of loading a data string into a Joint Test Action Group (JTAG) shift register is provided. The method includes determining whether the last bit of the data string is equal to one or zero. In response to determining that the last bit is equal to one, the method includes simultaneously setting each flip-flop of the shift register to one, identifying first data string loading bits by removing, from the data string, the last bit and any other bits in a continuous sequence of bits, including the last bit, that are each equal to one, and sequentially loading the identified first data string loading bits into the shift register. A testing apparatus for performing the method and an enhanced JTAG interface are also provided. The method, testing apparatus, and enchanced JTAG interface may reduce the number of clock cycles required to load the shift register.

Testing of die on wafer is achieved by; (1) providing a tester with the capability of externally communicating JTAG test signals using simultaneously bidirectional transceiver circuitry, (2) providing die on wafer with the capability of externally communicating JTAG test signals using simultaneously bidirectional transceiver circuity, and (3) providing a connectivity mechanism between the bidirectional transceiver circuitry's of the tester and a selected group or all of the die on wafer for communication of the JTAG signals.

The disclosure describes a novel method and apparatuses for allowing a controller to select and access different types of access ports in a device. The selecting and accessing of the access ports is achieved using only the dedicated TDI, TMS, TCK, and TDO signal terminals of the device. The selecting and accessing of device access ports can be achieved when a single device is connected to the controller, when multiple devices are placed in a daisy-chain arrangement and connected to the controller, or when multiple devices are placed in a addressable parallel arrangement and connected to the controller. Additional embodiments are also provided and described in the disclosure.

Various embodiments are described that relate to failure determination for an integrated circuit. An integrated circuit can be tested to determine if the integrated circuit is functioning properly. The integrated circuit can be subjected to a specific radiation such that the integrated circuit produces a response. This response can be compared against an expected response to determine if the response matches the expected response. If the response does not match the expected response, then the integrated circuit fails the test. If the response matches the expected response, then the integrated circuit passes the test.

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.

A Scan test in a single-wire bus circuit is described in the present disclosure. The single-wire bus circuit has only one external pin for connecting to a single-wire bus. Given that multiple physical pins are required to carry out the Scan test, the single-wire bus circuit must provide additional pins required by the Scan test. In embodiments disclosed herein, the single-wire bus circuit includes a communication circuit under test, and a driver circuit coupled to the communication circuit via multiple internal pins. The driver circuit uses a subset of the internal pins as input pins and another subset of the internal pins as output pins to carry out the Scan test in the communication circuit. As a result, it is possible to perform the Scan test without adding additional external pins to the single-wire bus circuit, thus helping to reduce complexity and footprint of the single-wire bus circuit.

Presented embodiments facilitate efficient and effective flexible implementation of different types of testing procedures in a test system. In one embodiment, a test system comprises pre-qualifying test components, functional test components, a controller, a transceiver, and a switch. The pre-qualifying test components are configured to perform pre-qualifying testing on a device under test. The functional test components are configured to perform functional testing on the device under test. The controller is configured to direct selection between the pre-qualifying testing and functional testing. The transceiver is configured to transmit and receive signals to/from the device under test. The switch is configured to selectively couple the transceiver to the pre-qualifying test components and functional test components.

Testing of die on wafer is achieved by; (1) providing a tester with the capability of externally communicating JTAG test signals using simultaneously bidirectional transceiver circuitry, (2) providing die on wafer with the capability of externally communicating JTAG test signals using simultaneously bidirectional transceiver circuitry, and (3) providing a connectivity mechanism between the bidirectional transceiver circuitry's of the tester and a selected group or all of the die on wafer for communication of the JTAG signals.

An aspect includes driving a plurality of commands to an interface unit of a circuit design in a hardware-accelerated simulator to dynamically initialize the circuit design to run one or more test cases based on an initialization sequence with breakpoint support. A state of the circuit design is examined through the interface unit based on triggering of a breakpoint on the hardware-accelerated simulator. A next action to perform in the initialization sequence is determined based on the state of the circuit design as determined through the interface unit.