Analysis and design of linear finite state machines for signature analysis testing

The authors present a theoretical investigation of the aliasing error probability (AEP) in signature analysis testing by means of linear finite state machines (LFSMs). The equations of the resulting Markov chain model of the LFSM are solved to determine an exact expression of the AEP as a function of the main LFSM features and of the relevant parameters of the testing environment. This expression is used to prove criteria for the synthesis of LFSMs with minimum asymptotic and transient AEP. A fundamental lower bound on the AEP is presented, which represents the performance limit of any LFSM with respect to aliasing minimization. It is shown that the AEP in machines realizing counters mod 2^k-1 is the closest to such a bound, in particular periodically reaching it