Testing Using Independently Controllable Voltage Islands

Abstract

A voltage island architecture wherein the source voltage of each voltage island can be independently turned on/off or adjusted during a scan-based test. The architecture includes a plurality of voltage islands, each powered by a respective island source voltage, and a testing circuit, coupled to the voltage islands, and powered by a global source voltage that is always on during test, wherein each island source voltage may be independently controlled during test.

1 . A method for testing an integrated circuit chip including voltage partitions, comprising:
 powering down some of the voltage partitions on the chip; and   performing scan chain-based IDDQ testing on the voltage partitions that remain powered up.   
   
   
       2 . A method for testing an integrated circuit chip including voltage partitions, comprising:
 powering down some of the voltage partitions on the chip; and   performing scan chain-based voltage burn-in testing on the voltage partitions that remain powered up.