Studies on Integrating SAT-based ATPG in an Industrial Environment

Due to ever increasing design sizes, more efficient tools for Automatic Test Pattern Generation (ATPG) are needed. Recently, SAT-based approaches for test pattern generation have been shown to be very efficient even on large industrial circuits. But these SAT-based techniques are not always superior to classical ATPG approaches. An integration of SAT-based engines into the classical ATPG flow can improve the overall performance. In this paper we present a first approach to integrate a SAT-based engine into the industrial ATPG environment of NXP Semiconductors. Experimental results for large industrial benchmark circuits are presented that show the improvements achieved by the integration.