Electrical engineering

Test set

Test (biology)

Test compression

Mathematics

Code coverage

Biology

Politics

Algorithm

Fault coverage

Reduction (mathematics)

Electronic circuit

Engineering

Political science

Paleontology

Artificial intelligence

Test data

Automatic test pattern generation

Set (abstract data type)

Programming language

Geometry

Representation (politics)

Software

Computer science

Test compaction and the associated test data compression are two key components of the post-production test as they reduce test pattern counts, the resultant test data volume, test application time, and hence the cost of testing. The paper describes a method that strives to reduce the number of ATPG-produced deterministic test patterns to deliver compact test sets. In principle, it is based on a dimensionality reduction paradigm by working with a meaningful representation of test patterns using external and internal necessary assignments to determine small groups of potentially compatible faults. These faults are subsequently retargeted by the robust SAT-based ATPG and its solvers producing a single test pattern for the entire group, thus making the resultant test set smaller in size. Experimental results obtained for several industrial designs and stuck-at faults confirm superiority of the proposed scheme over state-of-the-art test set compaction techniques and are reported herein.

On Reduction of Deterministic Test Pattern Sets