JP2007078536A - Failure detection simulation system, failure detection simulation method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a failure detection simulation system, a failure detection simulation method and a program capable of shortening the simulation time. <P>SOLUTION: This simulation system, the failure detection simulation system for determining whether a circuit failure can be detected, has a failure model parameter for showing the characteristics of failure state with respect to an object element of a net list 20 indicating the circuit, a test condition setting part 50 for setting the expectation value of the input and the output to the object element, a net list simplifying part 25 for simplifying the net list 20 by integrating two or more elements into one element, a simulation circuit generating part for generating a simulation circuit based on the failure model parameter, and a circuit simulation execution part for determining whether failure can be detected, based on the set test conditions. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a failure detection simulation system, a failure detection simulation method, and a program for determining whether or not a failure of a circuit (integrated circuit) can be detected by simulation.

  Fault detection simulation assumes a logic circuit that contains a fault, inputs predetermined test data to the logic circuit, performs a simulation, and detects the fault in the logic circuit, thereby evaluating the logic circuit at the design stage. To do.

  In the failure detection simulation in the digital circuit, a failure is assumed in the digital circuit, the input / output of the gate constituting the digital circuit is defined, the simulation is executed for each failure, and the detection result is obtained. The failure mode is defined elsewhere, and circuit simulation is performed using a test pattern for each failure. Whether or not a failure has been detected is determined based on whether or not the failure has been matched with a predefined expected value (Patent Document 1).

  As a conventional technique related to a test simulation for an analog circuit, for example, there is a technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-121511 (Patent Document 2). In the IC test program creation device disclosed in Patent Document 2, the maximum value of the test standard value as the test condition is obtained by executing the circuit simulation while sequentially changing the parameter that is the characteristic value of the element of the IC circuit. By obtaining the minimum value, a test condition that takes into account the variation of each element is automatically generated. However, a failure detection simulation for detecting a failure at each element level constituting an analog circuit has not been performed.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-283394 JP 2003-121511 A

  The applicant of the present application has developed an analog failure circuit simulation system capable of improving the defect removal rate (Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-403045). In this method, a failure simulation parameter indicating a failure state characteristic is applied to an element constituting an analog circuit, and a circuit simulation is executed using a set expected value of input / output as a test condition. Thereby, it is possible to determine whether or not an element failure can be detected under the test conditions.

  In this method, each element in the circuit is set to a failure mode, and a simulation equivalent to an actual screening test is performed. Therefore, when the number of elements in the circuit increases, it takes a very long time. That is, in this method, the elements included in the analog circuit are sequentially set to the failure mode, and the simulation is performed by changing the test items. For this reason, if the number of analog circuit elements increases, the number of simulations increases, and the calculation time increases. For example, when there are 1000 circuit elements (resistors, transistors, etc.) in one IC and there are 100 test items to be simulated, it is necessary to perform 100,000 simulations in order to perform failure simulation of all elements. is there. Even if one simulation time is 30 seconds, it takes 3 million seconds, that is, one month or more. As described above, the conventional analog circuit failure detection simulation system has a problem that the calculation time becomes long as the number of elements increases.

  A failure detection simulation system according to the present invention is a failure detection simulation system for determining whether or not a failure of a circuit can be detected, and is a failure model that indicates characteristics of a failure state for an element selected from a netlist representing the circuit. A parameter storage unit; a test condition setting unit that sets an expected value of input / output to / from the circuit as a test condition; and two or more elements among elements included in the circuit are combined into one element, and the netlist is A simulation for generating a simulation circuit corresponding to a circuit represented by the simplified netlist based on the failure model parameter for the selected element and a netlist simplification unit that simplifies and generates a simplified netlist The test conditions set by the circuit generation unit and the test condition setting unit Run the circuit simulation Zui, and has a determining circuit simulation executing unit whether it can detect a fault. Thereby, the number of elements to be simulated can be reduced, and the simulation time can be shortened.

  A failure detection simulation method according to the present invention is a failure detection simulation method for determining whether or not a failure of a circuit can be detected, wherein an element is selected from a netlist representing the circuit, and among the elements included in the circuit Simplifying the netlist by combining two or more elements into one element, generating a simplified netlist, setting an expected input / output value as a test condition for the simplified netlist, A simulation circuit corresponding to the circuit represented by the simplified netlist is generated based on the failure model parameter indicating the characteristic of the failure state for the selected element, and the circuit simulation is executed based on the set test condition Then, it is determined whether or not a failure can be detected. Thereby, the number of elements to be simulated can be reduced, and the simulation time can be shortened.

  A program according to the present invention is a program that causes a computer to execute a failure detection simulation for determining whether or not a circuit failure can be detected, and causes the computer to select an element from a netlist that represents the circuit. The netlist is simplified by combining two or more elements into one element to generate a simplified netlist, and the expected input / output values are tested against the simplified netlist. A simulation circuit corresponding to the circuit represented by the simplified netlist is generated based on a failure model parameter indicating a characteristic of a failure state for the selected element, and the test condition is set. Based on this, a circuit simulation is executed to determine whether or not a failure can be detected. Thereby, the number of elements to be simulated can be reduced, and the simulation time can be shortened.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a failure detection simulation system, a failure detection simulation method, and a program capable of reducing the number of elements to be simulated and reducing the simulation time.

  Hereinafter, embodiments to which the present invention can be applied will be described. The following description explains the embodiment of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the following embodiment. For clarity of explanation, the following description is omitted and simplified as appropriate. Further, those skilled in the art will be able to easily change, add, and convert each element of the following embodiments within the scope of the present invention. In addition, what attached | subjected the same code | symbol in each figure has shown the same element, and abbreviate | omits description suitably.

  FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a failure detection simulation system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The failure detection simulation system 10 of this embodiment includes a netlist 20, a netlist simplification unit 25, a model parameter 30, a simulation circuit generation unit 40, a test condition setting unit 50, a simulation execution unit 60, a simulation result output unit 70, and simulation control. Part 80 is provided. The failure detection simulation system 10 is connected to the external terminal device 100.

  The failure detection simulation system 10 can be realized by software (failure detection simulation program) executed on a computer device (CPU) that can be controlled by a program as well as by dedicated hardware. The failure detection simulation program is stored in a magnetic disk, a semiconductor memory, or other recording medium, loaded from the recording medium to a computer device, and controls the operation of the computer device to execute processing described below.

Hereinafter, a failure detection simulation for an analog circuit will be described.
The netlist 20 is a list representing the configuration (circuit specifications) of an analog circuit (integrated circuit) that is a target for detecting a failure. The netlist 20 shows all elements constituting the analog circuit. The netlist 20 includes information on whether each element is connected in parallel or serially. Furthermore, information on whether or not there is a branch point between each element is also included.

  The netlist simplification unit 25 combines two or more elements included in the netlist 20 into one. The number of elements combined into one may be one or plural. Thereby, the number of elements to be simulated can be reduced. Simplification of the net list by the net list simplifying unit 25 will be described later. The net list simplified by the net list simplifying unit 25 is referred to as a simplified net list. The netlist simplification unit 25 may generate only one simplified netlist and perform the following simulation, or may generate a different simplified netlist for each element and perform the following simulation.

  The model parameter 30 is a parameter indicating characteristics of each element such as a transistor, a resistor, and a capacitor included in the analog circuit represented by the netlist 20, and in this embodiment, the model parameter 30 is a standard element. Standard model parameters representing standard models satisfying various characteristics (models having characteristics as normal products) and failure model parameters representing failure models (models having a failure state in characteristics) are prepared and stored.

  Different standard model parameters and failure model parameters are stored depending on the types of elements included in the analog circuit. That is, different model parameters are prepared for transistors, resistors, and capacitors. Further, when there are elements having different characteristics in one type of element, different model parameters are prepared according to the characteristics. For example, when the resistors provided in the circuit are a 10 kΩ resistor and a 5 kΩ resistor, two types of model parameters are prepared corresponding to the respective resistance values. That is, the standard model parameter and failure model parameter for 10 kΩ, and the standard model parameter and failure model parameter for 5 kΩ are stored. In other words, common model parameters are used for elements of the same type and the same characteristics. For other elements such as transistors and capacitors, different model parameters are prepared for each characteristic.

  The simulation circuit generation unit 40 applies the parameters of each element included in the model parameter 30 to the circuit represented in the simplified netlist. Accordingly, the simulation circuit generation unit 40 generates a simulation circuit for performing circuit simulation.

  The test condition setting unit 50 sets test conditions including input / output expected values (voltage, current value) for an element that detects a failure. As these test conditions, input / output expected values (values expected to be obtained with respect to a certain input value: hereinafter referred to as test items) are set for each element. The For example, the test condition setting unit 50 sets an expected input value and an expected output value for a block including a target element for detecting a failure in the circuit. As the input / output expected values, those set in correspondence with a plurality of IC shipment inspections are used. That is, when an input signal in an actual shipping inspection is input, an expected value of an input that will be input to a block including the target element and an expected value of an output that will be output based on the expected value of the input are Is set. The expected value of input / output is set for each element. Note that the elements included in the same block may have the same input / output expected value. The test conditions include circuit information of a test jig (for example, an IC inspection device (tester)) used for actual circuit detection.

  The simulation execution unit 60 executes a circuit simulation with the content corresponding to the shipping inspection of the integrated circuit (IC) for each element of the simulation circuit based on the test conditions (a plurality of test items). That is, an input signal used for shipping inspection is input to an analog circuit, and an output signal output at that time is calculated by simulation. The simulation execution unit 60 may be configured by dedicated hardware, but is software (fault detection simulation program) that is executed on a computer device and simulates a test using a tester or the like that is an actual test jig. Can be realized.

  About the structure and function of this simulation execution part 60, it is the same as the circuit simulator currently disclosed conventionally, for example, is disclosed by the patent document 2 (Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 2003-121511) mentioned above, About the detail, Omitted.

  The simulation result output unit 70 outputs information including a failure detection rate of each element as a simulation result as a result of the inspection for each element of the simulation circuit. This simulation result is sent to the external terminal device 100. For example, when the simulation result deviates from the expected output value set by the test condition setting unit, it is determined that the element is faulty.

  The simulation control unit 80 determines whether or not circuit simulation has been completed for all failure model parameters for the element to be inspected. Furthermore, the simulation control unit 80 controls the simulation execution unit 60 to perform the following processing. The simulation control unit 80 switches to another failure model parameter prepared for the element to be inspected. At this time, the netlist simplification unit 25 simplifies the netlist corresponding to the switched failure model parameter. When the failure mode is switched, the netlist is simplified to have a different configuration. That is, the configuration of the simplified netlist differs depending on the failure model parameter. Then, the simulation circuit generation unit generates a simulation circuit corresponding to the simplified netlist having a different configuration. The simulation control unit 80 executes a circuit simulation with a fault model based on the simulation circuit corresponding to the newly simplified simplified netlist and the switched fault model parameters. The simulation control unit 80 can also select an element that is a target of failure detection. Therefore, the simulation control unit 80 can determine whether all the elements are set as failure detection targets or only some of the elements are set as failure detection targets. For example, if the designer selects an element for failure detection from all elements, the simulation control unit 80 controls the selected element to perform a simulation.

  Next, the operation of the failure detection simulation system 10 according to this embodiment configured as described above will be described.

  First, prior to failure detection simulation, model parameters including standard model parameters and failure model parameters are prepared for each element and stored as model parameters 30.

  In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the model parameter 31 of the NPN transistor, the model parameter 32 of the PNP transistor, the model parameter 33 of the resistor, and the model parameter 34 of the capacitor are stored as the model parameter 30.

  Here, examples of model parameters of the NPN transistor and the resistance are shown in FIGS.

  FIG. 2 shows model parameters 31 of the NPN transistor. The model parameters of the NPN transistor include a standard model parameter, a failure model parameter representing an open state failure, and a failure model parameter representing a short state failure of the NPN transistor. FIG. 3 shows a model parameter 33 of resistance. The resistance model parameter 33 includes a standard model parameter, a failure model parameter representing an open state failure, and a failure model parameter representing a short state failure of the resistor. As described above, each model parameter includes three types of model parameters, that is, a standard model parameter, a failure model parameter representing an open state failure, and a failure model parameter representing a short state failure of a resistor. Note that an open state failure model parameter is an open model parameter, and a short state failure model parameter is a short model parameter.

  At least one type of failure model parameter for each element is set for each element. Further, as the failure model parameter, a value (a value indicating an open state or a short state) that greatly exceeds the range of the characteristic variation that occurs in the manufacturing process of the element is set.

  4 and 5 show the Ic-Vce characteristic and Vbe-Ic characteristic, which are static characteristics in the failure model (open and short) and the standard model, of the NPN transistor described above. Static characteristics in each model according to the failure model parameter and the standard model parameter shown in FIG. 2 are shown.

  In the above, the example of the contents of the model parameters for the transistor and the resistor has been shown. However, for the model parameter 32 of the PNP transistor and the model parameter 34 of the capacitor, the standard model parameter and the two types of failure model parameters are the same as described above. Shall be included.

The processing contents of the failure detection simulation system 10 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  An element to be set in the failure mode is selected from the circuit shown in the netlist 20 (step 101). Here, a specific element is selected from elements such as NPN transistors and resistors included in the netlist 20. Here, an element selected in the failure mode is set as a target element. That is, the target element is set to the failure mode, and simulation is executed as described below. That is, it is determined by simulation whether a failure can be detected for the target element. Usually, one element from a plurality of elements included in the netlist 20 is the target element. Two or more elements may be the target element at the same time.

  Test conditions for detecting a failure are set (step 102). Here, a test condition including a plurality of test items (input / output expected values) prepared for each element is set. For test items, a combination of a plurality of input values and output values is prepared. As test conditions, a number of test items such as 100 items are set. Hereinafter, description will be made assuming that 100 test items are set as an example.

  When the test conditions are set, the net list simplification unit 25 simplifies the net list (step 103). First, it is selected whether the target element selected in step 101 is an open model or a short model. Here, a case where the target element is an open model will be described. It is determined whether or not the target element can be combined with other elements in the selected failure model (here, the open model). When combined, it is combined with other elements to form one element. That is, when the failure mode is set, two or more elements including the selected target element are combined into one element. Furthermore, what is collected by elements other than the selected element is put together. Thereby, the number of elements to which parameters are applied in the simulation can be reduced, and the net list can be simplified. Therefore, calculation time can be shortened.

  Next, model parameters are applied to each element of the simplified netlist (step 104). For example, the simulation circuit generation unit 40 applies the failure model parameter selected from the model parameters 30 to the target element selected in step 101. Here, open model parameters are applied to the target element. Further, when the target element is combined with other elements, the failure model parameters of the target element before being combined into the combined element are applied. Among the elements different from the target element, the standard model parameter of one element among the elements before being combined is applied to the element in which two or more elements are combined. For elements that are not grouped with other elements, the model parameters for that element are applied. As a result, a simulation circuit indicating the failure mode of the element is generated.

  For example, a failure model simulation circuit as shown in FIG. 9 is generated by applying open model parameters to the resistance of the circuit represented by the standard model shown in FIG.

  A circuit simulation having the contents corresponding to the shipping inspection of the integrated circuit (IC) is executed on the failure model simulation circuit in accordance with the set test conditions (step 105).

  The circuit simulation based on this test condition is executed according to the flowchart shown in FIG.

  First, a test is performed to determine whether a result that matches the expected value is obtained for the first test item included in the test condition (step 201). That is, an input value included in a test item is input to a simulation circuit, and an output from the circuit is calculated.

  As a result of the test, it is determined and recorded whether a failure is detected in the test item (whether the result does not match the expected value of the test item) or not detected (whether the result matches the expected value of the test item). (Step 202). In circuit simulation, if a test item (expected value) set as a test condition results in a result that does not match the expected value (result outside the allowable range indicated by the expected value), failure detection is performed. If a result that conforms to the expected value (result within the allowable range indicated by the expected value) is obtained, it is determined that no failure has been detected. That is, when the simulation result is outside the allowable range indicated by the expected value, it is determined that a failure can be detected by the actual inspection corresponding to the input value of the test item, and is within the allowable range indicated by the expected value. In this case, it is determined that a failure cannot be detected by an actual inspection corresponding to the input value of the test item.

  Thereafter, it is determined whether or not the test has been executed for all test items set as test conditions. (Step 203). If the simulation has not been completed for all the test items, the test is switched to the next test item (step 204) and the test of step 201 is executed.

  For example, when there are 100 test items, the test for 100 items is repeatedly executed, and when the test is completed for all the test items in step 203, the test execution for the failure model is completed. As a result, for all test items for the failure model to be tested, a test result indicating whether the failure is detected or not detected is recorded.

  When the circuit simulation of step 105 for the model parameter applied in step 104 is completed, it is determined whether or not the circuit simulation for all the failure models (failure model parameters) of the target element is completed (step 106). If the circuit simulation for all the fault models has not been completed, the circuit is switched to another fault model parameter prepared for the element to be inspected (step 107).

  Specifically, the open model parameter can be switched to the short model parameter. Then, the net list is simplified (step 103), the model parameter is applied (step 104), and the fault inspection simulation is executed (step 105) for the short model parameters. For example, when the simulation is completed for the resistance fault model (open model) simulation circuit as shown in FIG. 9, the resistance is switched to another fault model parameter (short model) as shown in FIG. A fault model (short model) simulation circuit is generated, and a circuit simulation for fault inspection is executed.

  The circuit simulation is repeatedly executed until the circuit simulation for all the failure model parameters for the target element is completed. When an open model parameter and a short model parameter are prepared as the failure model parameter, a circuit simulation of the failure model is performed for the open state and the short state.

  If circuit simulation (failure inspection) is performed on all (open model and short model) failure model parameters for the element to be inspected, it is determined whether the circuit simulation for all elements included in the integrated circuit of the netlist 20 has been completed. (Step 108).

  FIG. 11 shows an example of a test result when a circuit simulation is executed for the test items of Test 1 to Test 100 with respect to the open model and the short model that are failure models of the element to be inspected (NPN transistor). Here, a circle is marked when a failure is detected in the simulation, and a cross is marked when no failure is detected.

  FIG. 11 shows that no failure is detected in the test item of the test 3 for the open model, and no failure is detected in the test item of the test 1 for the short model. For each test item, an evaluation indicating whether or not a failure has been detected in all failure models is shown as a comprehensive evaluation.

  In addition, the failure detection rate for each failure model and the failure detection rate in comprehensive evaluation are shown. The failure detection rate (%) here is represented by (number of test items in which failure is detected / total number of test items) × 100.

  When failure is not detected only in the test items of test 3 and test 1 for both failure models, failure detection rate for the open model and the short model (= (number of test items in which failure was detected / number of all test items) × 100) Are 99/100 and 99% respectively. For example, if failure is not detected in 10 items out of 100 items, the failure detection rate is 90%.

  The failure detection rate of the element (NPN transistor) in comprehensive evaluation including the open model and the short model is 98% at 98/100. If the failure detection rate of this element is 100%, all the test items are verified.

  In the test results shown in FIG. 11, the test items indicated by crosses (failure not detected) as comprehensive evaluations are items that cannot detect a failure for any failure model, and thus are determined not to be effective test items. . Therefore, based on the test results shown in FIG. 11, test items that are not valid (test 1 and test 3 in the case of FIG. 11) are excluded from a plurality of test items included in the test conditions, and 98 valid test items are obtained. If a circuit simulation is performed by setting as a new test condition, a test result as shown in FIG. 12 is obtained.

  From the above test results, it is possible to verify the test conditions that can improve the efficiency of the shipping test and improve the test quality. In addition, the test results are extremely useful in finding the range of valid test items set as test conditions. In other words, it is not necessary to perform an actual inspection corresponding to an invalid test item, so that the inspection can be simplified. In this way, the actual inspection can be simplified by determining whether or not the test item is valid by simulation.

If the circuit simulation has not been completed for all the elements in step 108, a new element is selected (step 101), and other test conditions set for the element are set (step 102). Step 103 to Step 107
Repeat the process.

  When the circuit simulation for all the elements included in the integrated circuit of the netlist 20 is completed in step 108, a test result as shown in FIG. 11 is output as a simulation result for each element (step 109). This completes the failure detection simulation for the analog circuit.

  Next, simplification of the netlist will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 13A is a diagram showing a circuit configuration corresponding to the net list before simplification, and FIG. 13B corresponds to a simplified net list obtained by simplifying the net list shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the circuit structure to perform. A circuit composed of 13 elements as shown in FIG. 13 (a) can be simplified to a circuit composed of 8 elements as shown in FIG. 13 (b).

  A location A where two 5 kΩ resistors are connected in parallel as shown in FIG. 13A can be represented as one 2.5 kΩ resistor 23 as shown in FIG. 13B. . A portion B where two 5 kΩ resistors are connected in series can be represented as one 10 kΩ resistor 24 as shown in FIG. A portion C where a transistor having a current amplification factor of 1 is connected in parallel can be represented as a transistor having a current amplification factor of 2 as shown in FIG. The number of elements included in the netlist can be reduced from 13 to 8 by combining the elements connected in parallel and the elements connected in serial in this way. Thereby, simulation time can be shortened.

Here, the same kind of elements are combined into one. That is, when a plurality of resistors are serially connected or connected in parallel, the plurality of resistors are combined into one. If a resistor is connected to a capacitor or transistor, do not group the elements for that. For capacitors and transistors, the same kind of elements are combined into one. When two or more elements are combined into one, the model parameters of the combined elements can be the same as before being combined. That is, the model parameter of one element out of two or more elements is used as a model parameter of the element. Specifically, model parameters of elements having large parameters among elements before being combined are used. For example, when the resistances of 5 kΩ and 10 kΩ are combined, the model parameter of the resistance of 10 kΩ is used. Similarly, the model parameters of the element having a large capacity are used for the capacitor. Similarly, a transistor model parameter having a large current amplification factor (h _FE ) or collector current is used for the transistor. When the target elements are grouped, the failure model parameters of the target elements before being grouped are used for the grouped elements. As a result, simulation can be performed without increasing model parameters.

  However, the above simplification may change the simulation result. This will be described below. For example, consider a case where one of the resistors 21 shown in the location A of FIG. When the resistor 21 is short-circuited, the simulation result should not change for the part A connected in parallel. That is, when one of the 5 kΩ resistors connected in parallel is short-circuited, the entire portion A becomes conductive. On the other hand, if the combined resistances of 2.5 kΩ shown in FIG. 13B are short-circuited, the entire portion A ′ is conducted. Therefore, the same simulation result can be obtained.

  On the other hand, for the serially connected portion B, the simulation result changes when the resistor 22 is short-circuited. That is, when the resistor 22 at the location B in FIG. 13A is short-circuited, the resistance of the entire location B becomes 5 kΩ due to the other serially connected resistor. However, in the simplified net list shown in FIG. 13B, when the 10 kΩ resistor is short-circuited, the entire portion B ′ is conducted. Thus, the simulation result in the short state is different in the serial connection.

  Therefore, when a simulation is performed in which a serially connected element is short-circuited, the element is not combined with other elements. As a result, it is possible to prevent the simulation result from changing, so that the simulation can be performed with high accuracy. Specifically, when the short model parameter is applied to the resistor 21 shown in FIG. 13A, two resistors 10 kΩ connected in parallel are collectively referred to as the resistor 23. On the other hand, when the short model parameter is applied to the resistor 22 shown in FIG. 13A, the two resistors connected in series are not put together. Thereby, a highly accurate simulation can be executed.

  In addition, about the element which is not made into the object of a failure, the element connected in serial and the element connected in parallel are put together, respectively. That is, when the element at the location A is the target element, the elements that are grouped together with elements other than the location A are collected. A simulation can be executed in a short time by gathering elements other than the target element.

  The number of elements to be combined is not limited to two, and three or more elements can be combined. That is, when there are three or more elements connected in parallel, these three elements may be combined into one element. Further, when there are three or more serially connected elements, the case where the serially connected elements and the parallel elements are combined can be combined into one. At this time, an element serially connected to the target element to which the short model parameter is applied is not put together with the target element.

  Next, consider the case where open model parameters are applied to the device. When the resistor 21 is in an open state, there is a resistor connected in parallel, so that the resistance of the entire portion A is 5 kΩ. On the other hand, in the simplified net list, when the resistor 23 is in an open state, the entire portion A ′ is in an insulated state. That is, if the open model parameters are applied to the elements connected in parallel, the simulation results will be different. On the other hand, when the serially connected resistor 22 is in an open state, the entire portion B is in an insulated state. In the simplified net list, when the resistor 24 is in an open state, the entire portion B ′ is in an insulated state. Therefore, the same simulation result can be obtained.

  Therefore, when a simulation is performed in which an element connected in parallel is opened, the element is not put together with other elements. That is, when the element at the location B is the target element, the elements that are grouped together with the elements other than the location B are collected. As a result, it is possible to prevent the simulation result from changing, so that the simulation can be performed with high accuracy.

  In this way, depending on whether the failure model parameter applied to the target element is an open model parameter or a short model parameter, the grouping of the elements is changed. Specifically, when the open model parameter is applied, the target element and the elements connected in parallel are not grouped, but the other elements are grouped. On the other hand, when the short model parameter is applied, the target element and the serially connected elements are not collected, but other elements are collected. Thereby, a highly accurate simulation can be performed in a short time.

  For reference, we will introduce how to organize parallel connections and serial connections. 14A is a diagram showing elements before and after the parallel connection elements are assembled, and FIG. 14B is a diagram showing the element shown in FIG. 14A in a short state. . FIG. 15A is a diagram showing elements before and after the serial elements are grouped, and FIG. 15B is a diagram showing the elements shown in FIG. 15A in an open state. FIG. 14 shows resistors, transistors, and capacitors, respectively. FIG. 15 shows a resistor and a capacitor, respectively. As shown in FIG. 14, even if the elements are put together into a short state, the circuit operation is not different from the case where the elements are put together after being put into a short state. As shown in FIG. 15, even if the elements are put in an open state after being put together, the circuit operation is not different from that in which the elements are put in an open state. Therefore, even when the elements are combined to shorten the simulation time, the simulation can be performed with high accuracy.

  As described above, even if the short mode parameter is applied to the elements after the elements connected in parallel are combined and the elements are combined after the short model parameter is applied to the elements, the result is the same. Therefore, when the short model parameter is applied to the resistor 21 shown in FIG. 13A, the circuit can be summarized as shown in FIG. In FIG. 16, the resistor corresponding to the location A in FIG. As the failure model parameters for the elements combined with the target element, the same failure model parameters as the failure model parameters of the target element before being combined can be used.

  In addition, even if the open model parameters are applied to the elements after collecting the serially connected elements, the results are the same whether the elements are combined after the open model parameters are applied to the elements. Therefore, when an open model parameter is applied to the resistor 22 shown in FIG. 13A, the circuit can be summarized as shown in FIG. In FIG. 17, the resistor indicated by the dotted line is in an open state. As the failure model parameters for the elements combined with the target element, the same failure model parameters as the failure model parameters of the target element before being combined can be used. Thus, by collecting elements, it is possible to shorten the time until the simulation converges without degrading the accuracy of the failure detection rate.

  Next, a procedure for simplifying the net list by grouping elements will be described with reference to FIG. 18. FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing the procedure of step 103 for simplifying the net list. When the failure mode is set at step 101, the test condition for the selected element is set at step 102. Then, it is selected whether the target element is an open fault or a short fault (step 301). When the target element is short-circuited, the target element and the elements connected in parallel are grouped together (step 302). When there is no element connected in parallel with the target element, that is, when the target element is only connected in serial and when there is no element connected to the target element, the target element remains as it is. When the target element is an open failure, the target element and the serially connected elements are grouped together (step 303). When there is no element serially connected to the target element, that is, when the target element is only connected in parallel or when there is no element connected to the target element, the target element remains as it is. Since the netlist includes information on whether each element is connected in parallel or serially, the target elements can be appropriately collected.

  Next, in order to collect elements other than the target element, a netlist search is performed for other elements (step 304). Since the netlist includes information on whether each element is connected in parallel or serially, it can be searched. Then, based on the search result of step 304, it is determined whether or not there is a parallel connection (step 305). If the same type of elements are connected in parallel, the plurality of elements are combined into one (step 306). When there are no parallel-connected elements or when the parallel-connected elements are grouped, it is determined whether there is a serial connection based on the search result of step 304 (step 307). If the same type of elements are serially connected, they are grouped together (step 308). Thereafter, it is determined whether there is at least one serially connected element and whether there is at least one parallel connection (step 309). If there is at least one element connected in serial or parallel connection other than the target element, and the elements are collected, the processing from step 304 is repeated. When all the elements that can be grouped are collected, the simplification of the netlist is finished. Note that the order in which the serially connected elements and the parallel connected elements are grouped may be reversed. In this way, by simplifying the net list, the number of elements when executing the simulation can be further reduced, and the calculation time can be shortened.

  A circuit configuration corresponding to a netlist simplified by such a procedure will be described with reference to FIG. 19A is a diagram showing a circuit configuration corresponding to the net list before simplification, and FIGS. 19B to 19D are circuit configurations corresponding to the net list shown in FIG. 19A. FIG. 20 shows a circuit configuration when the above is simplified according to the flowchart shown in FIG. In FIG. 19, only a resistor is shown as an element constituting the circuit for simplification of description.

  A case where the resistor 26 shown in FIG. The resistor 26 selected in step 101 is selected if a short circuit failure occurs in step 301. Since the resistor 26 is serially connected, the elements cannot be combined into one in step 302 here. A netlist search is performed for other elements (step 304). Based on the search results, the resistances of the serially connected location C and location D are combined into one (step 307 and step 308). As a result, the circuit configuration shown in FIG. Since there are serially connected locations C and D (step 309), the processing of step 304 to step 308 is executed. That is, the search is performed again (step 304), and the parallel connection points E are combined into one in FIG. 19B (steps 305 and 306). As a result, the circuit configuration shown in FIG. Further, the two resistors at the serially connected portion F are combined into one (step 307 and step 308). As a result, the circuit configuration shown in FIG. In this manner, a netlist having a circuit configuration including seven elements can be converted into a simplified netlist having a circuit configuration including three elements. Therefore, calculation time can be shortened.

  If nodes are divided in the middle of serially connected elements, the elements are grouped up to that node. That is, as shown in FIG. 20A, when there is a branch point between the resistors, the elements up to the branch point are combined as one element. For example, the net list having the circuit configuration shown in FIG. 20A is simplified as shown in FIG. Here, a case where the resistor 27 is short-circuited is shown. In FIGS. 19 and 20, only the resistance is shown, but the capacitor and the transistor can be similarly summarized.

  By converting circuits having the same function into the same netlist, it is possible to eliminate the difference in the failure simulation result due to the difference in the netlist. When designing a circuit using elements arranged in an array, the netlist differs depending on the elements used in the circuit having the same function and the way of describing the circuit diagram. Therefore, the failure detection rate may be different even for circuits having the same function. Therefore, when using elements arranged on the array, the netlists are made the same by grouping the elements connected in parallel and the elements connected in serial. As a result, the circuits having the same function are converted into the same netlist so that the same fault detection rate is obtained. Whether or not an element arranged on the array is used can be determined from the element name, for example. Therefore, the netlist simplification unit may determine whether the failure target element is an element arranged on the array and simplify the netlist accordingly.

  For example, the circuit shown in FIG. 21A and the circuit shown in FIG. 21B show the same function. When these two circuits are put together in the procedure shown in FIG. 19, a net list having the circuit configuration shown in FIG. 21C is obtained. Therefore, the circuits of FIGS. 21A to 21C have the same function. In this way, by making circuits having the same function and different configurations into the same netlist, the failure detection rate can be made the same. Therefore, simulation can be performed with high accuracy.

  Furthermore, since elements arranged in an array are used, the circuit configuration of FIG. 21C may be drawn only with the circuit diagrams shown in FIGS. 21A and 21B. In this case, if a simulation is performed before the elements are simplified together, it may be determined that a failure cannot be detected. For example, in FIG. 21A, it is determined that a 1 kΩ resistance short-circuit failure cannot be detected, and in FIG. 21B, it is determined that a 10 kΩ open failure cannot be detected. In this case, as shown in FIG. 21C, it can be determined that the open fault and the short fault can be detected by grouping the elements into a netlist having the same circuit configuration. Thereby, it is possible to prevent a difference in failure detection rate depending on how to draw a circuit diagram.

  Examples of other test results obtained as simulation results will be described below.

  In the example of the simulation result shown in FIG. 22, as shown in FIG. 1-No. For 10 ten NPN transistors, whether or not a failure is detected for each failure mode parameter A (for example, open model) and failure mode parameter B (for example, short model) is shown.

  In this simulation result, for each NPN transistor (element), for all the test items set as test conditions, even one result that does not match the test item (result other than the allowable range indicated by the expected value) is obtained. If it is obtained, the failure is detected, and if a result (a result within the allowable range indicated by the expected value) conforming to all the test items is obtained, the failure is not detected.

  Here, a circle indicates that a failure has been detected and a cross indicates that a failure has not been detected. In the transistor No. 1, the failure model parameter A is detected as a failure, but the failure model parameter B is not detected as a failure.

  In addition, as a comprehensive evaluation for each transistor, whether or not a failure is detected in all failure model parameters is shown. For example, no. In the transistor 1, a failure was detected with respect to the failure model parameter A, but no failure was detected with respect to the failure model parameter B. Therefore, a comprehensive evaluation was made that no failure was detected.

In this simulation result, no. 1-No. For ten NPN transistors of ten, the failure detection rate for the failure model parameter A is No. Since no failure is detected in the transistor No. 3, the failure detection rate for the failure model parameter B is 9/10 (90%). Since no failure is detected in one transistor, it is 9/10 (90%).

  Moreover, the failure detection rate in the comprehensive evaluation of each transistor is 8/10 (80%).

  Note that a simulation result as shown in FIG. 22 may be output for each element, and a failure detection rate for the entire circuit to be inspected may be output. The failure detection rate of the entire circuit is calculated as the total number of elements in which failure is detected / total number of elements as a comprehensive evaluation.

  For example, when the integrated circuit is composed of 10 transistors and 20 resistors, the number of faults detected as an overall evaluation of the transistor is 8 out of 10 and the number of faults detected as an overall evaluation of the resistance is 13 out of 20. If so, the failure detection rate of the entire circuit is 21/30 (70%), which is the sum of the denominators of 8/10 and 13/20 and the numerator.

  In the circuit simulation for failure detection described above, if the set test conditions (test items included in) are appropriate (effective test items), the failure detection rate in the failure model should be 100%. If the failure detection rate does not reach 100%, it means that an inappropriate value (information) is included in the set test condition. Therefore, if the failure detection by the failure detection simulation system of this embodiment is executed prior to the shipping test of the analog circuit (integrated circuit), it becomes possible to verify the test conditions for bringing the failure detection rate close to 100%. By performing an actual analog circuit test (shipment inspection) under the test conditions obtained as a result, the actual defect removal rate can be improved.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiments, the present invention is not necessarily limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the technical idea. For example, in the above-described embodiment, an example of failure detection simulation of an analog circuit is shown. However, if the netlist is expressed at the element level, it can be applied to failure detection simulation of a digital circuit. is there.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the failure detection simulation system by the preferable Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the model parameter of the NPN transistor in the failure detection simulation system of a present Example. It is a figure which shows the example of the model parameter of resistance in the failure detection simulation system of a present Example. It is a figure which shows the example of the static characteristic (Ic-Vce characteristic) in the standard model of NPN transistor, and a failure model. It is a figure which shows the example of the static characteristic (Vbe-Ic characteristic) in the standard model and failure model of an NPN transistor. It is a flowchart explaining the failure detection operation | movement of the failure detection simulation system of a present Example. It is a flowchart which shows the detail of the circuit simulation in the failure detection operation | movement of the failure detection simulation system of a present Example. It is a figure which shows the example of a circuit corresponding to the standard model of an element. It is a figure which shows the example of a circuit when the element shown in FIG. 7 is substituted by the failure model (open). It is a figure which shows the example of a circuit when the element shown in FIG. 7 is substituted by the failure model (short). It is a figure which shows the example of the simulation result output by the simulation by the failure detection simulation system of a present Example. It is a figure which shows the example of the simulation result in case all the test items contained in a test condition are effective. It is a figure which shows an example of the simplified net list concerning a present Example. It is a figure which shows how to put together the element in the case of applying a short fault. It is a figure which shows how to put together the element at the time of applying an open failure. It is a figure which shows the simplification net list at the time of applying a short fault in the circuit structure shown to Fig.13 (a). It is a figure which shows the simplification net list at the time of applying an open fault in the circuit structure shown to Fig.13 (a). It is a flowchart which shows the procedure of the simplification of the net list concerning a present Example. 18 shows a simplified circuit configuration in the flowchart shown in FIG. It is the figure which showed the example which puts together an element in the circuit of a structure with a branch point. It is the figure which showed the example which converts the element of the circuit of the same function collectively into the same net list. It is a figure which shows the other example of the simulation result output by the simulation by the failure detection simulation system of a present Example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Failure detection simulation system 20 Net list 21-24 Resistance 25 Net list simplification part 26, 27 Resistance 30 Model parameter 40 Simulation circuit generation part 50 Test condition setting part 60 Simulation execution part 70 Simulation result output part 80 Simulation control part 100 External terminal apparatus

Claims (12)

A failure detection simulation system for determining whether or not a circuit failure can be detected,
A fault model parameter storage unit indicating characteristics of a fault state for an element selected from a netlist representing the circuit;
A test condition setting unit for setting an expected value of input / output to the circuit as a test condition;
A netlist simplification unit that combines two or more elements included in the circuit into one element, simplifies the netlist, and generates a simplified netlist;
A simulation circuit generating unit that generates a simulation circuit corresponding to the circuit represented by the simplified netlist based on the failure model parameter for the selected element;
A failure detection simulation system comprising: a circuit simulation executing unit that executes a circuit simulation based on the test condition set by the test condition setting unit and determines whether or not a failure can be detected. Further comprising standard model parameters indicating standard characteristics of elements other than the selected element;
The failure detection simulation system according to claim 1, wherein the standard model parameter of the element before being combined is applied to an element in which a plurality of elements other than the selected element are combined into one. The netlist simplification part is
When the failure model parameter for the selected element is an open model parameter indicating an open state, and the selected element and another element are serially connected, the selected element is serially connected. Combine other elements into one element,
When the failure model parameter for the selected element is a short model parameter indicating a short-circuit state, and the selected element and another element are connected in parallel, the selected element is connected in parallel. 2. The fault detection simulation system according to claim 1, wherein other elements are combined into one element.   The fault detection simulation according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the fault model parameter of the selected element is applied to an element in which the selected element and another element are combined into one. system. A fault detection simulation method for determining whether or not a circuit fault can be detected,
Select an element from the netlist representing the circuit,
Among the elements included in the circuit, two or more elements are combined into one element to simplify the netlist, and a simplified netlist is generated.
Corresponding to the circuit represented by the simplified netlist based on the failure model parameter indicating the characteristic of the failure state for the selected element, setting the input / output expected value for the simplified netlist as a test condition Generate a simulation circuit to
A fault detection simulation method for executing a circuit simulation based on the set test condition and determining whether or not a fault can be detected. Standard model parameters indicating standard characteristics of elements other than the selected element are provided,
The failure detection simulation method according to claim 5, wherein the standard model parameter of the element before being combined is applied to an element in which a plurality of elements other than the selected element are combined into one. The netlist simplification part is
When the failure model parameter for the selected element is an open model parameter indicating an open state, and the selected element and another element are serially connected, the selected element is serially connected. Combine other elements into one element,
When the failure model parameter for the selected element is a short model parameter indicating a short-circuit state, and the selected element and another element are connected in parallel, the selected element is connected in parallel. 6. The fault detection simulation method according to claim 5, wherein other elements are combined into one element.   8. The fault detection simulation according to claim 5, 6 or 7, wherein the fault model parameter of the selected element is applied to an element in which the selected element and another element are grouped together. Method. A program for causing a computer to execute a failure detection simulation for determining whether or not a circuit failure can be detected,
In the computer,
Select an element from the netlist representing the circuit,
Among the elements included in the circuit, two or more elements are combined into one element, the netlist is simplified, and a simplified netlist is generated.
The expected value of input / output is set as a test condition for the simplified netlist,
Generating a simulation circuit corresponding to the circuit represented by the simplified netlist based on a failure model parameter indicating characteristics of a failure state for the selected element;
A program for determining whether or not a failure can be detected by executing a circuit simulation based on the set test conditions. A plurality of elements other than the selected element are combined into one element to generate the simplified netlist,
The program according to claim 9, wherein a standard model parameter indicating a standard characteristic of an element before being combined is applied to the combined element. The netlist simplification part is
When the failure model parameter for the selected element is an open model parameter indicating an open state, and the selected element and another element are serially connected, the selected element is serially connected. Combine other elements into one element,
When the failure model parameter for the selected element is a short model parameter indicating a short-circuit state, and the selected element and another element are connected in parallel, the selected element is connected in parallel. The program according to claim 9, wherein other elements are combined into one element. The program according to claim 9, 10 or 11, wherein the failure model parameter of the selected element is applied to an element in which the selected element and another element are combined.

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