Ensembles of neural networks for fault diagnosis in analog circuits

A new neural network-based analog fault diagnosis strategy is introduced. Ensemble of neural networks is constructed and trained for efficient and accurate fault classification of the circuit under test (CUT). In the testing phase, the outputs of the individual ensemble members are combined to isolate the actual CUT fault. Prominent techniques for producing the ensemble are utilized, analyzed and compared. The created ensemble exhibit high classification accuracy even if the CUT has overlapping fault classes which cannot be isolated using a unitary neural network. Each neural classifier of the ensemble focuses on a particular region in the CUT measurement space. As a result, significantly better generalization performance is achieved by the ensemble as compared to any of its individual neural nets. Moreover, the selection of the proper architecture of the neural classifiers is simplified. Experimental results demonstrate the superior performance of the developed approach.