Design error diagnosis in sequential circuits

Abstract

We present a new diagnostic algorithm for localising design errors in sequential circuits. The specification and the implementation may have different number of state variables, and different state encoding. The algorithm is based on the new concept of possible next states describing the possible states of the circuit due to the existence of the error. Results obtained on benchmark circuits show that the error is always found, with an execution time proportional to the product of the circuit size, and the length of the test sequences used.