Fault detection by transient transition count testing

A new testing scheme, transient transition count (TTC) testing, which is able to detect hard-to-test faults and redundant faults, in addition to conventional stuck-at faults, is proposed. The scheme is based on applying a pair of transition patterns and observing the transition count of the transient output response of a circuit to detect faults. A fast and memory-efficient fault simulator which is based on PPSFP mechanism but can handle timing is implemented. Experimental results show that this scheme can reach a higher fault coverage than the conventional stuck-at fault testing.