Sequential Circuit Test Generation Using Dynamic State Traversal
Michael S. Hsiao, Elizabeth M. Rudnick, Janak H. Patel · 1997
A new method for state justification is proposed for sequential circuit test generation. The linear list of states dynamically obtained during the derivation of test vectors is used to guide the search during state justification. State-transfer sequences may already be known that drive the circuit from the current state to the target state. Otherwise, genetic engineering of existing state-transfer sequences is required. In both cases, genetic-algorithm-based techniques are used to generate valid state justification sequences for the circuit in the presence of the target fault. This approach achieves extremely high fault coverages and thus outperforms previous deterministic and simulation-based techniques. I Introduction The majority of the time spent by automatic test generators for sequential circuits is used to find test sequences for hard-totest faults. Deterministic test generators have been proposed in the past, but they often require backtracing through complex gates and flip-f...