A framework and method for hierarchical test generation

The authors have proposed and implemented a dynamic framework and a method for hierarchically generating test patterns from a hierarchical net list. They have shown consistent gains in CPU over the traditional gate-level implementation while maintaining identical levels of fault coverage. In generating and characterizing modules for a large and varied set of hierarchical benchmarks, the authors benefited considerably from the consistent representations that are available during synthesis from a high-level description or when modules are generated by a process of technology mapping into standard cells. The authors introduced the concept of a single generic module which is hierarchical; the traditional AND, OR, NAND, and NOR are included implicitly. They developed a module-oriented decision-making algorithm, MODEM, which entails a dynamic calculus and procedures such as implication, error propagation, line justification, and probabilistic testability measures for a single generic module. Without loss of generality they adapted the control flow and basic features of PODEM in the first implementation of MODEM.< >