CMOS bridging fault detection

The authors compare the performance of two test generation techniques, stuck fault testing and current testing, when applied to CMOS bridging faults. Accurate simulation of such faults mandated the development of several new design automation tools, including an analog-digital fault simulator. The results of this simulation are analyzed. It is shown that stuck fault test generation, while inherently incapable of directly expressing many of the likely CMOS faults, was still able to generate a set of effective test patterns. Current monitoring, however, by virtue of its more accurate model and less stringent detection criterion, was able to generate tests of measurably higher quality. It is concluded that the selection of one technique over the other becomes a cost tradeoff. Current testing produced test patterns that were consistently more effective in detecting bridging faults. This higher quality comes at higher start-up costs aid higher costs per chip design