Diagnosis of Logic and Memory Resources in FPGAs Using Embedded Processor Based Built-In Self- Test

Abstract

We present an embedded processor based approach for Built-In Self-Test (BIST) and diagnosis of pro-grammable logic and memory resources in Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs). The resources under test include the programmable logic blocks (PLBs), large random access memories (RAMs), and digital signal proces-sors (DSPs) in all of their modes of operation. The approach is applicable to any FPGA that supports dynamic par-tial reconfiguration via an embedded processor core. As a case study, we present the application to test and diag-nose logic and memory resources in the Xilinx Virtex-4 series FPGA. We also exploit architectural features to en-hance dynamic partial reconfiguration for BIST to reduce the amount of program memory storage for the embedded processor core as well as the total time required for BIST.