Performance Evaluation of FMOSSIM, a Concurrent Switch-Level Fault Simulator

TLDR: Measurements obtained while performing fault simulations of MOS circuits modeled at the switch level obtain a performance level comparable to fault simulators using logic gate models, and indicate that fault simulation times grow as the product of the circuit size and number of patterns.

Abstract: This paper presents measurements obtained while performing fault simulations of MOS circuits modeled at the switch level. In this model the transistor structure of the circuit is represented explicitly as a network of charge storage nodes connected by bidirectional transistor switches. Since the logic model of the simulator closely matches the actual structure of MOS circuits, such faults as stuck-open and closed transistors as well as short and open-circuited wires can be simulated. By using concurrent simulation techniques, we obtain a performance level comparable to fault simulators using logic gate models. Our measurements indicate that fault simulation times grow as the product of the circuit size and number of patterns, assuming the number of faults to be simulated is proportional to the circuit size. However, fault simulation times depend strongly on the rate at which the test patterns detect the faults.