Analysis and comparison of functional verification and ATPG for testing design reliability

As the complexity of current hardware systems rises, it is challenging to harden these systems against faults and to complete their verification and manufacturing test. Not only that verification and testing take a considerable amount of time but the number of design errors, faults and manufacturing defects increases with the rising complexity as well. In this paper we performed a detailed analysis of two approaches devoted to generation of input test vectors with respect to detection of stuck-at faults: the first one is based on classical Automatic Test Pattern Generation, the second one on Constrained-random Stimulus Generation. We evaluated their qualities as well as their drawbacks and introduced ideas about their combination in order to create a new promising approach for testing reliable systems.