Fault location in multistage interconnection networks with global and distributed control

A procedure is presented for locating single faults in N×N cube-type interconnection networks with global and with distributed control. Networks with distributed control are assumed to be based on comparator cells with bit-serial architecture. It is shown that fault location requires eight tests for interconnection networks with global control under a functional fault model and four sets of test vectors for interconnection networks with distributed control under the stuck-at fault model, given a specific implementation of the comparator cell. The outstanding feature of this procedure is that the input vectors are independent not only of the network size, but also of the actual fault location. Thus, the fault location procedure can easily be implemented and has low time consumption