An Algorithm for Selecting an Optimum Set of Diagnostic Tests

In the design of combinational diagnostic testing procedure for a large digital system, some redundant tests are expected. This paper describes an algorithm for selecting a good (locally optimized) set of diagnostic tests which contains no redundancy. The algorithm will in general tend to give a ``fairly good´´ set of test patterns, but is not guaranteed to be absolutely minimal. An overall optimization scheme is desirable but seems impractical [1]. The procedure described can be used either to yield a set of diagnostics which loses no resolution from the full set, or to yield a smaller set with some loss in resolution.