Title :
Testability of convergent tree circuits
Author :
Blanton, R.D. ; Hayes, John P.
Author_Institution :
ECE Dept., Carnegie Mellon Univ., Pittsburgh, PA, USA
fDate :
8/1/1996 12:00:00 AM
Abstract :
The testing properties of a class of regular circuits called convergent trees are investigated. Convergent trees include such practical circuits as comparators, multiplexers, and carry-lookahead adders. The conditions for the testability of these tree circuits are derived for a functional fault model. The notion of L-testability is introduced, where the number of tests for a p-level tree is directly proportional to p, rather than exponential in p. Convergent trees that are C-testable (testable with a fixed number of tests, regardless of the tree´s size) are also characterized. Two design techniques are also introduced that modify arbitrary tree modules in order to achieve Land C-testability. Finally, we apply these techniques to the design of a large carry-lookahead adder
Keywords :
combinational circuits; logic arrays; logic testing; C-testable; L-testability; convergent tree circuits; functional fault model; functional testing; iterative logic arrays; synthesis-for-testability; test generation; testability; testing properties; tree circuits; Adders; Automatic testing; Built-in self-test; Circuit faults; Circuit testing; Integrated circuit interconnections; Logic circuits; Logic testing; Multiplexing; Very large scale integration;
Journal_Title :
Computers, IEEE Transactions on