Untestable faults in DFT

Faults list in design are categorized into sub categories. Faults class are mainly divided into

• Testable(TE)–> Faults can be tested by some patterns.
• Untestable(UT)–> Faults foe which no pattern exits to detect the faults

Untestable Faults: Are the faults for which no pattern exit to either detect or possible detect them. These faults cannot cause any functional failures. And so the tools excludes them while calculating the test coverage. Types of Untestable faults are

• Unused (UU)
• Tied (TI)
• Blocked(BL)
• Redundant Faults (RE)

• Unused (UU)
  • Any floating pins not used in the design come under UU faults
  • The unused faults class includes all the faults on circuit unconnected to any observation point

• Tied (TI)
  • This faults includes faults on gates where the point of the faults is tied to a value identical to the fault stuck value

• Blocked (BL)
  • Due to tied logic in the design few faults are blocked and these are categories into Blocked faults. By adding the observable test point we can increase the coverage report.

• Redundant (RE)
  • The faults which are undetectable by the tool by any pattern , are classified as redundant faults

Fault Class Hierarchies in DFT

Faults list in design are categorized into sub categories. Faults class are mainly divided into

• Testable(TE)–> Faults can be tested by some patterns.
• Untestable(UT)–> Faults foe which no pattern exits to detect the faults

• Testable Faults: There are four sub category under TE.
  • DETECTED(DT)
  • POSDET(PD)
  • ATPG UNTESTABLE(AU)
  • UNDETETED(UD)

• Detected(DT): The Faults which are detected during the ATPG process are categories under DT
  • det_simulation(DS): The faults detected when the tools performs simulation
  • det_implication(DI): The faults detected when the tool performs learning analysis
• POSDET(PD): The Possible detected, faults includes all the faults that fault simulation identifies as possible detected
  • posdet_testable(PT): Potentially detectable posdet faults.With higher abort limit we can reduce the number of these faults
  • posdet_untestable(PU): These are proven ATPG untestable and hard undetectable faults.
• ATPG_UNTESTABLE(AU): This fault class includes all the faults for which test generator unable to find the pattern to create a test. Testable faults become ATPG untestable faults because of constraints or limitations, placed on the ATPG tool such as pin constraint or an insufficient sequential depth. This faults may be detectable, if we remove some constraint, or change some limitations on the test generator
• UNDETECTED (UD): This fault class includes the undetected faults that cannot be proven untestable or atpg_untestable
  • uncontrolled(UC)
  • unobserved(UO)
    All the testable faults prior to ATPG are put in the UC category. Faults that remain UC or UO after APTG aborted, which means that with higher abort limit may reduce the UC and UO fault class