scan register

(circuit design) A digital logic circuit which can act either as a flip-flop or as a serial shift register and which is used to form a scan path.

The most common design is a multiplexed flip-flop:

	      ___	  ____
  normal in --|	 \	 |    |
 	     |	  |------|D  Q|---- normal/scan output
  scan in ----|___/ mux	 |    |
 	       |	 |    |
  test mode ----+    +----|>   | flip-flop
 		    |	 |____|
  clk ---------------+
The addition of a multiplexor (mux) to each flip-flop's input allows operation in either normal or test mode. The output of each flip-flop goes to the normal functional logic as well as to the scan input of the next multiplexor in the scan path.

The other common design is level-sensitive scan design (LSSD).

(14 Feb 1995)