Fast false path identification based on functional unsensitizability using RTL information

ABSTRACT

In this paper, we propose a method for identifying false paths based on functional unsensitizability of path delay faults. By using RTL structural information, a number of gate level paths are bound into an RTL path and the bundle of them can be identified in a reasonable amount of time. The identified false paths are useful for over-testing reduction caused by DFT techniques, such as scan design, and also area and performance optimization of circuits during logic synthesis. Experimental results show that our proposed method can identify false paths in a few seconds for several benchmarks.

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