Testing and Reliability
Testing and reliability engineering form essential disciplines in digital electronics, ensuring that manufactured circuits perform correctly and maintain their functionality throughout their operational lifetime. As integrated circuits grow more complex with billions of transistors on a single die, the challenges of verifying correct operation and predicting long-term behavior have become increasingly sophisticated.
From the fundamental fault models that describe potential defects to the advanced test methodologies that detect them, this domain encompasses both theoretical foundations and practical implementation strategies. Understanding these principles is crucial for design engineers who must incorporate testability features, test engineers who develop verification strategies, and reliability engineers who analyze and predict product lifetimes.