Using a Jini based desktop Grid for test vector compaction and a refined economic model

Testing of very large scale integrated (VLSI) circuits is done by designing huge random sets of vectors of which only a few are useful. The process of filtering these good vectors from the overall set is called vector compaction. As the integrated circuits become denser, this problem is becoming a major bottleneck and the computation time could run into days for a single chip. In this paper we demonstrate how a distributed Grid architecture can be used for the speed-up of the problem. The architecture is based on a Jini desktop Grid. Economic models become a prime issue in such a scenario. The current economic models for minimizing cost or time are ad-hoc and entirely under the control of the broker middleware architecture, leaving the end user with little choice. In this paper we present a revised economic model that gives more choice to the user in terms of time and cost before execution. We match the high-level application layer to the available resources by utilizing a system of composite performance modeling of the available resources. We demonstrate the performance of this new architecture on some VLSI benchmark circuits.