SBT soft fault diagnosis in analog electronic circuits: A sensitivity-based approach by randomized algorithms

This paper addresses the fault diagnosis issue based on a simulation before test philosophy in analog electronic circuits. Diagnosis, obtained by comparing signatures measured at the test nodes with those contained in a fault dictionary, allows for sub-systems testing and fault isolation within the circuit. A novel method for constructing the fault dictionary under the single faulty component/unit hypothesis is proposed. The method, based on a harmonic analysis, allows for selecting the most suitable test input stimuli and nodes by means of a global sensitivity approach efficiently carried out by randomized algorithms. Applicability of the method to a wide class of circuits and its integration in diagnosis tools are granted since randomized algorithms assure that the selection problem can be effectively carried out with a poly-time algorithm independently from the fault space, structure, and complexity of the circuit.