Design of static CMOS self-checking circuits using built-in current sensing

The authors present a novel scheme for implementing self-checking circuits in static CMOS. A strongly code disjoint (SCD) built-in current sensor (BICS) is presented. It is used to cover faults whose detection cannot be guaranteed by logic monitoring. A previously fabricated and tested high-speed BICS is examined for its behavior in the presence of faults. Then, a self-exercising mechanism is designed to obtain the SCD property. The integration of this SCD BICS with a self-checking circuit achieves the well-known goal of total self-checking.<>