In one embodiment of the invention, circuitry and hardware for
connectivity testing are fabricated on an IC, and in particular an IC
containing a flash memory array. This testing circuitry is electrically
connected to the bond pads of the IC. In some embodiments, the testing
circuitry includes a boundary scan cell connected to each bond pad,
allowing for rapid connectivity testing of flash memory chips in
accordance with testing standards such as the JTAG standard. The
invention further includes methods in which the pins and/or memory cells
of a flash memory chip are sequentially sent a series of data so as to
test the connectivity of portions of the IC. The sequentially-sent data
is then retrieved and compared to the original data. Discrepancies
between these sets of data thus highlight connectivity problems in the
IC.