Test Pattern Generation using Boolean Proof Engines - Softcover

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Nabila Abdessaied is a researcher at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) since 2013. She received the Diplôme d'Ingénieur in computer science from the University of sciences in Tunis, Tunisia, in 2007. Then, she obtained her Master degree in computer science from the National Engineering School of Sousse, Tunisia, in 2009. In 2012, she joined the Institute of Computer Science of the University of Bremen where she received her Dr.-Ing. degree in computer science in 2015. Nabila Abdessaied is interested in the optimization of reversible and quantum circuits and studying their complexity. Furthermore, she is also working in the field of requirements engineering using NLP techniques. Rolf Drechsler is head of Cyber-Physical Systems department at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) since 2011. Furthermore, he is a Full Professor at the Institute of Computer Science, University of Bremen, since 2001. Before, he worked for the Corporate Technology Department of Siemens AG, and was with the Institute of Computer Science, Albert-Ludwig University of Freiburg/Breisgau, Germany. Rolf Drechsler received the Diploma and Dr. Phil. Nat. degrees in computer science from the Goethe-University in Frankfurt/Main, Germany, in 1992 and, respectively,1995. Rolf Drechsler focusses in his research at DFKI and in the Group for Computer Architecture, which he is heading at the Institute of Computer Science of the University of Bremen, on the development and design of data structures and algorithms with an emphasis on circuit and system design.

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After producing a chip, the functional correctness of the integrated circuit has to be checked. Otherwise products with malfunctions would be delivered to customers, which is not acceptable for any company. Many algorithms for "Automatic Test Pattern Generation" (ATPG) have been proposed in the last 30 years. But due to the ever increasing design complexity, new techniques have to be developed that can cope with today’s circuits. While classical approaches are based on backtracking on the circuit structure, several approaches based on "Boolean Satisfiability" (SAT) have been proposed since the early 80s.

In Test Pattern Generation using Boolean Proof Engines, we give an introduction to ATPG. The basic concept and classical ATPG algorithms are reviewed. Then, the formulation as a SAT problem is considered. As the underlying engine, modern SAT solvers and their use on circuit related problems are comprehensively discussed. Advanced techniques for SAT-based ATPG are introduced and evaluated in the context of an industrial environment. The chapters of the book cover efficient instance generation, encoding of multiple-valued logic, usage of various fault models, and detailed experiments on multi-million gate designs. The book describes the state of the art in the field, highlights research aspects, and shows directions for future work.