Faults in Digital VLSI Circuits

IJSRD - International Journal for Scientific Research & Development| Vol. 2, Issue 07, 2014 | ISSN (online): 2321-0613
All rights reserved by www.ijsrd.com 3
Faults in Digital VLSI Circuits
Sandeep Kumar Ojha1
1
Assistant Professor
1
St. Andrew’s Institute of Technology & Management, Farrukh nagar, Gurgaon
Abstract— In considering the techniques that may be used
for digital circuit testing, two distinct philosophies may be
found, First is Functional Testing, which undertake a series
of functional tests and check for the correct (fault free) 0 or
1 output response. It does not consider how the circuit is
designed, but only that it gives the correct output during test
and second one is Fault Modelling in whichto consider the
possible Faults that may occur within the circuit, and then to
apply a series of tests which are specifically formulated to
check whether each of these faults is present or not.The
faults which are likely to occur on the wafer during the
manufacture of the ICs, and compute the result on the circuit
output(s) with or without each fault present. Each of the
final series of tests is then designed to show that a particular
fault is present or not.
Key words: SBTPG, IC manufacturer, Digital circuit, Stuck-
at faults, ATPG, PCB, MCM, ECL, TTL, CMOS
I. INTRODUCTION
The stuck-at faults, where a particular node in the circuit is
always at logic 0 or at logic 1, and bridging faults, where
adjacent nodes or tracks are considered to be shorted
together. This is aided by the fact that a test for one potential
fault will often also test for other faults, and the
determination of a minimum test set to cover all the faults
being modelled is a powerful objective.However in theory
of digital circuit which passes all its fault modelling tests
may still not be fully functional.
A. Controllability and Observability
Two terms need to be considered before discussing further
aspects of digital circuit testing. These are controllability
and observability.
B. Controllability
The basic concept of controllability is simple, it is measure
of how easily a node in a digital circuit can be set to logic 0
or to logic 1 by signals applied to the accessible (primary)
inputs. The controllability of circuits containing latches and
flip-flops (sequential circuits) The block diagram of
controllability isas shown in the fig.1.1 –
C. Observability
It is measure of how easily the state of a given node (logic 0
or logic 1) can be determined from the logic signals
available at the accessible (primary) outputs. The block
diagram of observability is as shown in the fig.1.2-
Turning to observability, consider the simple
circuit shown in the fig1.2. Suppose it is necessary to
observe the logic value on node 2 . In order that this logic
value propagates to the primary output Z , to give a different
logic value at Z depending upon whether the node is logic 0
or logic 1 , it is clear that nodes 1 and 4 must be set to logic
1 and node 6 to logic 0. Hence primary signals must be
chosen so that these conditions are present on nodes 1,4 and
6, in which case output Z will be solely dependent upon
node 2. Node 2 will then be observable.
These two terms were first introduced in the 1970’s
in an attempt to quantify the ease (or difficulty) of testing a
digital circuit, with the aim of bringing to the attention of
the circuit designer during the design phase potentially
difficult to test circuit arrangements so that circuit
modifications could be considered.
D. Structurally Based Test Pattern Generation
The consideration of possible faults in a digital circuit is
undertaken in order to establish a minimum set of test
vectors which collectively will test that the faults are present
or not. If none of the predefined faults are detected, then the
circuit is considered to be fault free. This procedure is
sometimes termed as structurally-based test pattern
generation. When the test vectors are automatically
generated from the circuit layout, its termed as automatic
test pattern generation (ATPG).
The faults in digital circuits which are usually
considered two types, which are:
E. Stuck-at faults
The most common model that as been used for faults in
digital circuits is the single stuck-at fault model. This
assumes that any physical defect in a digital circuit results in
a node in the circuit being fixed at logic 0, stuck-at 0, or
fixed at logic 1, stuck-at 1. This fault may be in the logic
gate or macro itself, or some open circuit or short circuit in

(IJSRD/Vol. 2/Issue 07/2014/002)
the interconnections such that the node can no longer switch
between 0 and 1. By expression which are as follows—
Fault at logic 0---stuck-at 0---s-a-0 And Fault at logic 1---
stuck-at-1---s-a-1
A stuck-at fault is a particular fault model used by
fault simulators and automatic test pattern generation
(ATPG) tools to mimic a manufacturing defect within an
integrated circuit (ICs). Individual signals and pins are
assumed to be stuck at Logical '1', '0' and 'X'. For example,
an output is tied to a logical 1 state during test generation to
assure that a manufacturing defect with that type of behavior
can be found with a specific test pattern. Likewise the output
could be tied to a logical 0 to model the behavior of a
defective circuit that cannot switch its output pin. Not all
faults can be analyzed using the stuck-at fault model.
Compensation for static hazards, namely branching signals,
can render a circuit untestable using this model. Also,
redundant circuits cannot be tested using this model, since
by design there is no change in any output as a result of a
single fault.
F. Bridging Faults
Unlike stuck-at faults, where a node is considered to be
stuck-at one or other logic value, bridging faults may result
in a node driven to 0 or 1 by the action at some other
node(s) . Since this depends upon the driving impedance of
the logic signals on the lines which are bridged, no precise
decisions can be made on what the effect of bridging faults
will be without some consideration of (i) the technology, (ii)
where the faults are in the circuit layout and (iii) how
extensive is the bridging. For example—In TTL, logic 0
signal dominate, in ECL, logic 1 signal dominate, and in
CMOS Intermediate logic used. When shorted nodes
individually have the same logic value (0 or 1) then the
circuit outputs will be correct and no fault can be observed.
G. The number of bridging faults between any two lines in
a circuit of n lines is: n(n-1)/2
Suppose if there are two nodes a andb, if action will be
taken on a (logic 1), then b should be at (logic 0). Similarly,
if no action will be taken on a (logic 0), then b should be at
(logic 1).
H. Intermittent Faults
Nonpermanent faults in a circuit orsystem are faults that
appear and disappear in a random way . Such faults are
known as Intermittent faults. Therefore no predetermined set
of tests which can be formulated to detect such
malfunctioning. It has been reported that a major portion of
digital system faults when in service are intermittent
(temporary or nonpermanent) faults, and that the
investigation of such faults accounts for more than 90% of
total maintenance expenditure.
Nonpermanent faults may be divided into two
categories, namely:
1) Transient Faults
which are nonrecurring faults generaly caused by some
extraneous influence such as cosmic radiation, power supply
surges or electromagnetic interference.
2) Intermittent Faults
Which are caused by some imperfection within the circuit or
system and which appear at random intervals.
I. Digital Test Pattern Generation
The final objective of testing is to prevent faulty circuits
from being assembled into equipment, or to detect circuits
which have developed faults subsequent to their
commitment of LSI/VLSI circuits, but apply equally to
digital systems which have comparable controllability and
observability limitations. The block diagram of Digital Test
Pattern Generation (DTPG) are shown in the fig.1.3-
There are two probabilities are first introduced,
which are –
The probability, when fault fi is present in the
circuit =PFi
The probability, when fault a fi which is active (Ai)
is present in the circuit =PAi
Then according to Fault Probability Distribution
theorem-
m
∑ PFi=1
i=1
Digital testing may be considered to have three
purpose, namely:
J. Fault Detection
To discover something wrong in a circuit or system, ideally
before it has caused any trouble.Fault detection is a
subfield of control system which concerns itself with
monitoring a system, identifying when a fault has occurred,
and pinpointing the type of fault and its location. Two
approaches can be distinguished: A direct pattern
recognition of sensor readings that indicate a fault and an
analysis of the discrepancy between the sensor readings and
expected values, derived from some model
K. Physical Fault Location
To location of the source of a fault within an integrated
circuit. In some cases (e.g., Printed Crcuit Board (PCB),
Multi Chip Module (MCMs), embedded or stand-alone
memories, it may be possible to repair a failing circuit under
test.
L. Component Fault Location
To location of a faulty component or connection within a
completed system. The connection fault location diagram
are shown in the fig.1.4 (a) and (b)-

(IJSRD/Vol. 2/Issue 07/2014/002)
Early methods of fault simulation considered single
stuck-at faults one at a time. If there were f possible single
stuck-at faults to be considered, then f computer models of
the circuit under test were generated, each containing one
fault source and a count t, made of the number of faulty
circuits which were not detected by the proposed test set.
From this procedure a value for the fault coverage TC, of
the proposed test set was calculated using the equation:
TC = (f-t) / f * 100 %
Where,
TC =Test coverage or Fault Coverage
f = The possible single stuck at fault
t = The number of faulty circuits which were not detected by
proposed test set.
M. Roth’s D-algorithm
Routh’s D-algorithm forms the underlying concept of the
many practical ATPG programs.It sensitises all paths from
the site of a chosen fault to an observable output and uses
for 1000 gates.Its operate at individual gate level and
requires knowledge of all gates and their interconnection
topology.
The D-algorithm involves five logic states, namely:
0 = Normal logic zero
1 = Normal logic one
D =1 fault free condition
D =0 Fault chosen condition
X = an unassigned logic value, which can take any value 0,
1 or D
Thus D identifies a line or node which is 1 under
fault-free conditions and changes to 0 under the fault chosen
conditions.
II. CONCLUSION
It introduced the basic concept of controllability and observ
ability of nodes within a digital circuit, but has shown that
quantification of these two parameters does not have a great
practical significance, particularly for VLSI circuits.
Modelling the faults that can arise in digital circuits, with a
view to establishing tests which specifically detect whether
such faults are present or not, has a longer records of
success, the stuck-at fault model particularly significant.
III. ABBREVIATION
DTPG (Digital Test Pattern Generation)
SBTPG (Structurally Based Test Pattern Generation)
VLSI (Very Large Scale Integration)
MCM (Multi Chip Module)
ECL (Emitter Coupled Logic)
ATPG (Automatic Test Pattern Generation)
TTL (Transistor Transistor Logic)
REFERENCES
[1] Abramovici, M., Breuer, M.A., And Friedman :
Digital Systems Testing And Testable Design.
[2] Lala, P.K. Fault Tolerant And Fault Testable
Hardware Design.
[3] Wilkins, B.R. : Testing Digital Circuits An
Introduction.
[4] Fujiwara, H : Logic Testing And Design For
Testability.
[5] Miczo, A : Digital Logic Testing And Simulation.
[6] Pynn, C : Strategies For Electronic Test.
[7] Stevens, A.K. :Introduction To Component
Testing.
[8] Parker , K.P. : Integrating Design And Test: Using
Cae Tools.
[9] Yarmolik, V.N.: Fault Diagnosis Of Digital
Circuits.
[10]Bennetts,R.G.: Design Of Logic Circuits.
[11]Bateson, J.: In-Circuit Testing.
[12]Miller, D.M.: Developments In Integrated Circuit
Testing.
[13]Williams, T.W.: Vlsi Testing.
[14]Hurst, S.L.: Custom Vlsi Microelectronics.
[15]Di Giacomo, J.: Designing With High Performance
Asics.
[16]Mei, K.C.Y.: ‘ Bridging And Stuck-At Faults’

Faults in Digital VLSI Circuits

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