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Critical Path Selection for Delay Testing Considering Coupling Noise

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Abstract

The objective of delay testing is to detect any defects or variations that manifest into timing failures. In path based delay testing this is done by testing a subset of paths in the circuit that are more likely to fail and hence are critical. Since path delays are vector dependent, the set of critical paths selected depends on the vectors assumed when estimating the path delays. This implies that to find the real critical paths, it is important to consider the effect of dynamic (vector dependent) delay effects such as coupling noise and supply noise during path selection. In this work a methodology to incorporate the effect of coupling noise during path selection is described. For any given path, both logic and timing constraints are extracted and a constrained optimization problem is formulated to estimate the maximum path delay in the presence of coupling noise.

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  1. University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA

    Rajeshwary Tayade & Jacob A. Abraham

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  1. Rajeshwary Tayade
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  2. Jacob A. Abraham
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Correspondence to Rajeshwary Tayade.

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Responsible Editor: C. Metra

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Tayade, R., Abraham, J.A. Critical Path Selection for Delay Testing Considering Coupling Noise. J Electron Test 25, 213–223 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10836-009-5105-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10836-009-5105-7

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