Automatic Test Generation
Lee A. Belfore · Wiley Encyclopedia of Computer Science and Engineering · 2008
Abstract Automatic test generation (ATG) is an essential component in any test strategy. ATG automates the process of finding good tests, which allows the designer to focus on higher level aspects of the test architecture. ATG has a theoretic basis in the Boolean algebra and the logic circuits used to represent and implement, respectively functions in digital systems. Sequential tests complicate the testing process and are handled in one of two ways. First, the sequential machine is unrolled symbolically, which gives it the appearance of a combinational machine. Second, the circuit may be modified to allow for easier and more effective testing. Technology trends continue to present challenges for ATG. These challenges drive an active research community that search for problems associated with the progression of technology that makes testing approaches either more difficult or not effective, intellectual property cores whose internals may not be available to the test designer, and high levels of abstraction used typically in modern design methodologies.