Detecting undetectable controller faults using power analysis

In systems consisting of interacting datapaths and controllers, the datapaths and controllers are traditionally tested separately by isolating each component from the environment of the system during test. This is not possible when the controller-datapath pair is an embedded system designed as a hard core. This work facilitates the testing of controller-datapath pairs in a truly integrated fashion. The key to the approach is a careful examination of the types of gate level stuck-at faults that can occur within the controller. A class of faults that are undetectable in an integrated test by traditional means is identified. These faults create faulty but functional circuits. The effect of these faults on power consumption is explored, and a method based on power analysis is given for detecting these faults. Analysis is given for three example systems