Identifying Tests for Logic Fault Models Involving Subsets of Lines without Fault Enumeration

Bridging and interconnect open faults are defined using subsets of lines. We study the possibility of identifying input vectors that are effective as test vectors for such faults without enumerating the faults. This process does not require accurate layout information, it can handle very large numbers of faults, and it deals with undetectable faults implicitly. We describe a static test compaction process that uses the ability to identify effective test vectors without enumerating faults. This process selects a subset T of a given test set U such that T is guaranteed to detect the same faults as U. We also describe a test generation process based on the same concept. Finally, we show how this concept can be used to compare test sets.