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2003 IEEE International Conference on Computer Design (ICCD'03)
Test Generation for Non-separable RTL Controller-datapath Circuits using a Satisfiability based Approach
San Jose, California
October 13-October 15
ISBN: 0-7695-2025-1
Loganathan Lingappan, Princeton University
Srivaths Ravi, NEC Labs USA
Niraj K. Jha, Princeton University
In this paper, we present a satisfiability-based algorithm for automatically generating test sequences that target gate-level stuck-at faults in a circuit by using its register-transfer level (RTL) description. Our methodology exploits a popular, unified RTL circuit representation, called assignment decision diagrams, for its analysis and justifies module-level pre-computed test vectors on this representation. Test generation proceeds by abstracting the components in this unified representation using input/output propagation rules, so that any justification/propagation event can be captured as a Boolean implication. Consequently, we reduce RTL test generation to a satisfiability (SAT) instance that has a significantly lower complexity than the equivalent problem at the gate-level.
Using the state-of-the-art SAT solver ZCHAFF, we show that our RTL test generator can outperform gate-level sequential automatic test pattern generation (ATPG) in terms of both fault coverage and test generation time (two-to-three orders of magnitude speed-up), in comparable test application times. Furthermore, we show that in a bi-level testing scenario, in which RTL ATPG is followed by gate-level sequential ATPG on the remaining faults, we improve the fault coverage even further, while maintaining a high speed-up in test generation time (nearly 29X) over pure gate-level sequential ATPG, at comparable test application times.
Citation:
Loganathan Lingappan, Srivaths Ravi, Niraj K. Jha, "Test Generation for Non-separable RTL Controller-datapath Circuits using a Satisfiability based Approach," iccd, pp.187, 2003 IEEE International Conference on Computer Design (ICCD'03), 2003
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