The index generation function is a multi-valued logic function which checks if the given input vector is a registered or not, and returns its index value if the vector is registered. If the latency of the operation is critical, dedicated hardware is used for implementing the index generation functions. This paper proposes a method implementing the index generation functions using parallel index generator. A novel and efficient algorithm called ‘conflict free partitioning’ is proposed to synthesize parallel index generators. Experimental results show the proposed method outperforms other existing methods. Also, A novel architecture of index generator which is suitable for parallelized implementation is introduced. A new architecture has advantages in the sense of both area and delay.

In this paper, an exact algorithm for finding minimum test set which detects all testable stuck-at faults of a given combinational circit is presented. So far several heuristic algorithms for this problem are proposed, but no efficient exact algorithms are known. To solve this exactly, minimum test set problem is formalized as a minimum set covering problem, and then implicit manipulation technique using binary decision diagrams(BDDs) is applied. The algorithm presented in the paper has two contributions. One is utilization of maximal compatible fault set, which can drastically reduce the number of candidates for minimum test set. A new BDD based algorithm for extracting all maximal compatible fault sets is shown. The other is a new implicit manipulation technique handling with huge covering matrix. Actually, the algorithm using this technique can handle minimum set covrering problem with over ten thousand columns in a few minutes. Experiments using ISCAS benchmark circuits show that the algorithm is quite efficient for small(100-300 gates) circuits. A computational complexith of minimum test set problen is much higher than that of ordinary test pattern generation problem, so that practical signifcance of this method is not high. But the algorithm is still useful for evaluation of other heuristic algorithms. furthermore, this implicit manipulation technique can also be applied to other minimumset covering problems.