NoC-Based SoC Test Scheduling Using Ant Colony Optimization

In this paper, the authors propose a novel Ant Colony Optimization (ACO)-based test scheduling method for testing Network-on-Chip (NoC)-based Systems-on-Chip (SoCs), on the assumption that the test platform, including specific methods and configurations such as test packet routing, generation, and absorption, is installed. The ACO metaheuristic model, inspired by the ant's foraging behavior, can autonomously find better results by exploring more solution space. The proposed method efficiently combines the rectangle packing method with ACO and improves the scheduling results by dynamically choosing the test-access-mechanism widths for cores and changing the testing orders.