Test Support
Copyright © ARM Limited 2000. All rights reserved.
10-5
10.3 BIST of memory arrays
Adding a simple memory test controller allows you to perform an exhaustive test of the
memory arrays. You can activate the BIST test using an
MCR
to the CP15 BIST control
register.
When you perform a BIST test on an SRAM, the functional enable for that SRAM is
automatically disabled, forcing all memory accesses to that SRAM address space to go
to the AHB. This enables you to run BIST tests in the background, for instance the
instruction SRAM can be BIST tested, while code is executed over the AHB.
Serial scan access to the CP15 BIST operations is also provided for production test
purposes, using a special mode of operation of the INTEST wrapper. See ARM946E-S
INTEST wrapper on page 10-3.
You can also perform limited BIST testing in debug state by using scan chain 15 to
access the CP15 BIST control register. This is not necessarily recommended as the
BIST test corrupts the contents of the SRAM being tested.
You can achieve full programmer control over the BIST mechanism through five
registers that are mapped to CP15 register 15 address space. For details of the
MCR/MRC
instructions used to access these registers, see Register 15, RAM and TAG BIST test
registers on page 2-29.
10.3.1
BIST control register
The CP15 register 15 BIST control register controls the operation of the SRAM
memory BIST. Before initiating a BIST test, an
MCR
is first performed to the BIST
control register to set up the size of the test and enable the SRAM to be tested. An
additional
MCR
is required to initiate the test.
You can access the current status of a BIST test and result of a completed test by
performing an
MRC
to the BIST control register. This returns flags to indicate that a test
is:
•
running
•
paused
•
failed
•
completed.
In addition to returning the state for the size of the test memory array, having completed
a BIST test, if you wish to use the memory array for functional operation you must first
clear the BIST enable by writing to the BIST control register. You must then re-enable
the memory array by writing to CP15 register 1.
Summary of Contents for ARM946E-S
Page 1: ...ARM DDI 0155A ARM946E S Technical Reference Manual ...
Page 6: ...vi Copyright ARM Limited 2000 All rights reserved ARM DDI 0155A 04 Limited Confidential ...
Page 54: ...Programmer s Model 2 34 Copyright ARM Limited 2000 All rights reserved ARM DDI 0155A ...
Page 70: ...Caches 3 16 Copyright ARM Limited 2000 All rights reserved ARM DDI 0155A ...
Page 78: ...Protection Unit 4 8 Copyright ARM Limited 2000 All rights reserved ARM DDI 0155A ...
Page 112: ...Coprocessor Interface 7 14 Copyright ARM Limited 2000 All rights reserved ARM DDI 0155A ...