Computation of exact fault coverage for compact testing schemes

A strategy based on the use of intermediate signatures is developed that enables the exact fault coverage of compact testing schemes to be determined in a feasible computation time. A model is developed to predict fault simulation time, and used along with a dynamic programming based algorithm to find the optimal scheduling of the signatures with respect to the total simulation time. A more sophisticated model which uses preliminary fault simulation results to make better estimations is also introduced. Simulation results for both models are presented demonstrating the feasibility of the strategy