DIAGNOSIS OF INTERMITTENT FAULTS IN THE MULTIPROCESSOR SYSTEMS.

Diagnosis of intermittent faults in the multiprocessor systems is considered. Intermittent faults in digital circuits are those whose effects are present sometimes but not always. Many factors could result in intermittent faults, i. e. stray capacitances, close design tolerances, fatigue, or irregular physical structure of components. Sequential repair philosophy is used for handling intermittent faults. This is because some form of repetitive testing is needed to detect them. In a system which has intermittent faults, when a processor tests another processor, then intermittent faults may cause inconsistent test outcome on successive test applications. Therefore, it is necessary to define a special repair strategy. Several strategies for diagnosis or intermittent faults are defined. For each strategy the worst case fualt pattern is identified and comparision between a system which may have intermittent faults with a system that has only solid faults is considered.