The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 26, 2002
Filed:
May. 29, 1998
Daniel W. Green, McKinney, TX (US);
VIA-Cyrix, Inc., Richardson, TX (US);
Abstract
There is disclosed, for use in a processing device having an N-way set associative data array (such as an L1 cache), a built-in self-test (BIST) circuit for testing the validity of storage locations in the data array. The BIST circuit comprises 1) a memory capable of storing a test program executable by the processing device, wherein the test program is capable of testing the validity of the storage locations in the data array; and 2) a controller capable of copying the test program from the memory into first selected storage locations in a first way in the data array, wherein the processing device executes the copied test program stored in the first selected storage locations subsequent to the copying to thereby test the validity of second selected storage locations in at least one of the N ways.