Hazards in combinational circuits

Abstract This paper presents a general Boolean technique for detecting static and dynamic hazards in combinational circuits. The technique is based on the superposition of spikes that can occur in the different paths of a given combinational circuit. Because the procedure presented in the paper investigates the existance of spikes, it not only indicates the possibility of a hazard it also gives the maximal possible number of output changes during an input transition. An algorithm for the detection of hazards that may be caused by a specified input change is presented.