Electrical errors in ICs:
why they occur and their consequences

The verification of electrical errors at chip-level has always been the missing step in chip design closure – even though a chip is, basically, a very large circuit. The complexity of such an analysis has so far made it impossible.

Consequently, considerable effort is made throughout the design flows to avoid electrical errors from occurring in the first place. Experience, however, shows that without a verification solution dedicated to the analysis of electrical circuits at the chip scale, some errors elude the vigilance of design engineers, even with the most comprehensive design flows.

Those errors have severe consequences, ranging from delays in the project schedule (thus increasing its cost), failed time-to-market and in the worst case, product recalls (and the major financial as well as brand image impacts this can imply).

In this document, we go over why chips routinely go to fab with undetected electrical errors and the consequences that such errors have on a chip project success and lifetime.