A Possible Strategy for the Development of Software Test Libraries for different Processors of the same Family

In the automotive safety-critical application numerous test solutions are adopted; in particular, different solutions are implemented for the in-field and on-line testing. The Built-In Self-Test (BIST) approach and the Software-Based Self- Test (SBST) approach are two possible test strategies widely used to test the modern processors. The BIST approach is easily reproducible on different processors; while the SBST approach requires a considerable effort for implementing it for each different processor. This paper faces the problem of developing multiple Software Test Libraries (STL) for the processors belonging to the same processor family. The aim of this work is to propose a methodology for planning the test programs develop considering the different processors of the same family. In particular, the different features of the processors are considered. The common features present in all processors, the common features available only in some processors, and the features of just one processor are used for planning the development of the STLs. Each test program is developed in modular way, in accord with the SBST paradigm. The SPC58 processor family developed by STMicroelectronics is considered as case study. The experimental results demonstrate the validity of the proposed approach.