New probabilistic measures for accelerating the automatic test pattern generation algorithm

In order to approximate the signal controllabilities, the authors introduce new probabilistic measures called signal priorities, whose computation relies on the minimum-value distributions of fanout input variables of a digital circuit. The signal priorities serve the same purpose as do the signal controllabilities. That is, they are used to accelerate the automatic test pattern generation algorithm; however, their computation requires much less effort. This new method is formally defined and tested with several practical example circuits