A programmable BIST architecture for clusters of Multiple-Port SRAMs

This paper presents a BIST architecture, based on a single microprogrammable BIST processor and a set of memory wrappers, designed to simplify the test of a system containing many distributed multi-port SRAMs of different sizes (number of bits, number of words), access protocol (asynchronous, synchronous), and timin

Testing Embedded Memories in Telecommunication Systems

Extensive system testing is mandatory nowadays to achieve high product quality. Telecommunication systems are particularly sensitive to such a requirement; to maintain market competitiveness, manufacturers need to combine reduced costs, shorter life cycles, advanced technologies, and high quality. Moreover, strict reliability constraints usually impose very low fault latencies and a high degree of fault detection for both permanent and transient faults. This article analyzes major problems related to testing complex telecommunication systems, with particular emphasis on their memory modules, often so critical from the reliability point of view. In particular, advanced BIST-based solutions are analyzed, and two significant industrial case studies presente

Online and Offline BIST in IP-Core Design

This article presents an online and offline built-in self-test architecture implemented as an SRAM intellectual-property core for telecommunication applications. The architecture combines fault-latency reduction, code-based fault detection, and architecture-based fault avoidance to meet reliability constraint

On integrating a proprietary and a commercial architecture for optimal BIST performances in SoCs

This paper presents the integration of a proprietary hierarchical and distributed test access mechanism called HD2BIST and a BIST insertion commercial tool. The paper briefly describes the architecture and the features of both the environments and it presents some experimental results obtained on an industrial So

Programmable built-in self-testing of embedded RAM clusters in system-on-chip architectures

Multiport memories are widely used as embedded cores in all communication system-on-chip devices. Due to their high complexity and very low accessibility, built-in self-test (BIST) is the most common solution implemented to test the different memories embedded in the system. This article presents a programmable BIST architecture based on a single microprogrammable BIST processor and a set of memory wrappers designed to simplify the test of a system containing a large number of distributed multiport memories of different sizes (number of bits, number of words), access protocols (asynchronous, synchronous), and timing

An effective distributed BIST architecture for RAMs

The present paper proposes a solution to the problem of testing a system containing many distributed memories of different sizes. The proposed solution relies in the development of a BIST architecture characterized by a single BIST processor, implemented as a microprogrammable machine and able to execute different test algorithms, a wrapper for each SRAM including standard memory BIST modules, and an interface block to manage the communications between the SRAM and the BIST processor. Both area overhead and routing costs are minimized, and a scan-based approach allows full diagnostic capabilities of the faults possibly detected in the memories under test

Life expectancy of young adults with follicular lymphoma

FL patients younger than 40 have a median OS of 24 years and their outcome improved over time. However, they still have a significantly shorter life expectancy when compared with that of an age-matched general healthy population. FL in young adults, differently from paediatric FL, does not seem to represent a distinct entit

MRD response in relapsed/refractory FL after obinutuzumab plus bendamustine or bendamustine alone in the GADOLIN trial

We report assessment of minimal residual disease (MRD) status and its association with outcome in rituximab-refractory follicular lymphoma (FL) in the randomized GADOLIN trial (NCT01059630). Patients received obinutuzumab (G) plus bendamustine (Benda) induction followed by G maintenance, or Benda induction alone. Patients with a clonal marker (t[14;18] translocation and/or immunoglobulin heavy or light chain rearrangement) detected at study screening were assessed for MRD at mid-induction (MI), end of induction (EOI), and every 6-24 months post-EOI/discontinuation by real-time quantitative PCR. At MI, 41/52 (79%) patients receiving G-Benda were MRD-negative vs. 17/36 (47%) patients receiving Benda alone (p = 0.0029). At EOI, 54/63 (86%) patients receiving G-Benda were MRD-negative vs. 30/55 (55%) receiving Benda alone (p = 0.0002). MRD-negative patients at EOI had improved progression-free survival (HR, 0.33, 95% CI, 0.19-0.56, p \u3c 0.0001) and overall survival (HR, 0.39, 95% CI, 0.19-0.78, p = 0.008) vs. MRD-positive patients, and maintained their MRD-negative status for longer if they received G maintenance than if they did not. These results suggest that the addition of G to Benda-based treatment during induction can significantly contribute to the speed and depth of response, and G maintenance in MRD-negative patients potentially delays lymphoma regrowth

Telomere length is an independent predictor of survival, treatment requirement and Richter's syndrome transformation in chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Telomere length (TL) has been associated with outcome in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). This extensive analysis assess TL on 401 CLL patients subdivided in one cohorts of patients used as learning (191 patients) and one as blinded validation series (210 patients). A TL cutoff of 5000 bp was chosen by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis and Youden\u2019s index in the learning series. In this series,TLp5000 bp was independently associated to a worse outcome for both overall survival (OS; 105.5 vs 281 months, Po0.001) and treatment-free survival (TFS; 24.6 vs 73 months, Po0.001).In the blinded validation series, TLp5000 bp was confirmed as an independent outcome predictor for OS (79.8 vs not reached, Po0.001) and TFS (15.2 vs 130.8 months, Po0.001). Moreover, TLp5000 bp independently predicted the risk of Richter\u2019s syndrome (5-year risk: 18.9 vs 6.4%, P\ubc0.016). Within CLL subsets defined by biological predictors, TL consistently identified patient subgroups harboring unfavorable prognosis. These results demonstrate that TL is a powerful independent predictor of multiple outcomes in CLL, and contributes to refine the prognostic assessment of this disease when utilized in combination with other prognostic markers. We thus believe that this prognostic biomarker has the potential for a more widespread use in CLL.Telomere length (TL) has been associated with outcome in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). The aim of this extensive analysis carried out on 401 CLL patients was to assess TL conclusively as a prognostic biomarker. Our study included two cohorts used as learning (191 patients) and blinded validation series (210 patients). A TL cutoff of 5000 bp was chosen by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis and Youden's index in the learning series. In this series, TL< or =5000 bp was independently associated to a worse outcome for both overall survival (OS; 105.5 vs 281 months, P<0.001) and treatment-free survival (TFS; 24.6 vs 73 months, P<0.001). In the blinded validation series, TL< or =5000 bp was confirmed as an independent outcome predictor for OS (79.8 vs not reached, P<0.001) and TFS (15.2 vs 130.8 months, P<0.001). Moreover, TL< or =5000 bp independently predicted the risk of Richter's syndrome (5-year risk: 18.9 vs 6.4%, P=0.016). Within CLL subsets defined by biological predictors, TL consistently identified patient subgroups harboring unfavorable prognosis. These results demonstrate that TL is a powerful independent predictor of multiple outcomes in CLL, and contributes to refine the prognostic assessment of this disease when utilized in combination with other prognostic markers. We thus believe that this prognostic biomarker has the potential for a more widespread use in CLL