On Test Compaction of Broadside and Skewed-Load Test Cubes

For a test set that consists of test cubes (incompletely specified tests), test compaction can be achieved by merging pairs of compatible tests (tests that do not conflict in any of their specified values). This paper describes a test compaction procedure that enhances the ability of test-merging to reduce the number of tests in an incompletely specified test set that consists of both broadside and skewed-load tests for transition faults. In a basic step, the procedure attempts to remove a test t by combining it with several other tests, even if the tests are not compatible or have different types. This increases the possibility that all the faults detected by t will be detected by other tests, and t will be removed. Simulation results demonstrate reductions in numbers of tests beyond those achieved by test-merging with the same or lower numbers of specified values.