Skip to main content

A parallel genetic algorithm for Automatic Generation of Test Sequences for digital circuits

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
High-Performance Computing and Networking (HPCN-Europe 1996)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNCS,volume 1067))

Included in the following conference series:

Abstract

The paper deals with the problem of Automatic Generation of Test Sequences for digital circuits. Genetic Algorithms have been successfully proposed to solve this industrially critical problem; however, they have some drawbacks, e.g., they are often unable to detect some hard to test faults, and require a careful tuning of the algorithm parameters. In this paper, we describe a new parallel version of an existing GA-based ATPG, which exploits competing sub-populations to overcome these problems. The new approach has been implemented in the PVM environment and has been evaluated on a workstation network using some of the standard benchmark circuits. The results show that it is able to significantly improve the results quality (by testing some critical faults) at the expense of increased CPU time requirements.

This work has been partially supported by European Union through the PCI project #9452 94 204 70 (PETREL).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. V.D. Agrawal, K.-T. Cheng, P. Agrawal, “CONTEST: A Concurrent Test Generator for Sequential Circuits,” Proc. 25th Design Automation Conference, 1988, pp. 84–89

    Google Scholar 

  2. F. Brglez, D. Bryant, K. Kozminski, “Combinational profiles of sequential benchmark circuits,” Proc. Int. Symp. on Circuits And Systems, 1989, pp. 1929–1934

    Google Scholar 

  3. H. Cho, G.D. Hatchel, F. Somenzi, “Redundancy Identification/Removal and Test Generation for Sequential Circuits Using Implicit State Enumeration,” IEEE Trans. on CAD/ICAS, Vol. CAD-12, No. 7, pp. 935–945, 1993

    Google Scholar 

  4. F. Corno, P. Prinetto, M. Rebaudengo, M. Sonza Reorda, E. Veiluva, “A PVM Tool for Automatic Test Generation on Parallel and Distributed Systems,” Proc. Int. Conf. on High-Performance Computing and Networking, Milan (Italy), 1995, pp. 39–44

    Google Scholar 

  5. A. Geist, A. Beguelin, J. Dongarra, W. Jiang, R. Manchek, V. Sunderam, “PVM 3 User's Guide and Reference Manual,” Oak Ridge Nat. Lab., Internal Report ORNL/TM-12187, 1993

    Google Scholar 

  6. D.E. Goldberg, “Genetic Algorithms in Search, Optimization, and Machine Learning,” Addison-Wesley, 1989

    Google Scholar 

  7. T. Niermann, J.H. Patel, “HITEC: A Test Generator Package for Sequential Circuits,” Proc. European Design Automation Conf., 1991, pp. 214–218

    Google Scholar 

  8. P. Prinetto, M. Rebaudengo, M. Sonza Reorda, “An Automatic Test Pattern Generator for Large Sequential Circuits based on Genetic Algorithms,” Proc. Int. Test Conf., 1994, pp. 240–249

    Google Scholar 

  9. E.M. Rudnick, J.H. Patel, G.S. Greenstein, T.M. Niermann, “Sequential Circuit Test Generation in a Genetic Algorithm Framework,” Proc. Design Automation Conf., 1994, pp. 698–704

    Google Scholar 

  10. D. Schlierkamp-Voosen, H. Mühlenbein, “Strategy Adaptation by Competing Subpopulations,” Proc. Int. Conf. on Parallel Problem Solving from Nature, 1994, pp. 199–208

    Google Scholar 

  11. D.G. Saab, Y.G. Saab, J. Abraham, “CRIS: A Test Cultivation Program for Sequential VLSI Circuits,” Proc. Int. Conf. on Computer Aided Design, 1992, pp. 216–219

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Heather Liddell Adrian Colbrook Bob Hertzberger Peter Sloot

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1996 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Corno, F., Prinetto, P., Rebaudengo, M., Reorda, M.S. (1996). A parallel genetic algorithm for Automatic Generation of Test Sequences for digital circuits. In: Liddell, H., Colbrook, A., Hertzberger, B., Sloot, P. (eds) High-Performance Computing and Networking. HPCN-Europe 1996. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 1067. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-61142-8_583

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-61142-8_583

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-61142-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-49955-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics