The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 02, 1997
Filed:
Oct. 19, 1995
Grant A Lindberg, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Sharad Prasad, Peasanton, CA (US);
Kaushik De, San Jose, CA (US);
Arun K Gunda, Sunnyvale, CA (US);
LSI Logic Corporation, Milpitas, CA (US);
Abstract
A method and apparatus for isolating faults in an integrated circuit reduces time and effort to precisely locate such faults. A fault dictionary is developed, which is a record of the errors a circuit's modeled faults are expected to cause. The fault dictionary need only be generated once, and can be recalled for later testing of the same design. A failing circuit is subjected to test vectors and the erroneous outputs are logged, and then all failing scan test vectors are mapped into simulation scan patterns. Faults in the circuit are localized to a more narrowly defined area in which faults in the circuit may occur. If the area, even after localization, is too large, additional test patterns are developed and the device is subjected to another round of tests. The redefinition of test patterns is repeated until possible fault locations are sufficiently localized. The device is then probed to precisely locate the fault(s).