Syllabus
Topics outline:
  1. Digital circuits
    1. Analysis and design
    2. Redundancy, fan-out and delays
    3. Functional and timing behavior of storage elements
    4. Sequential circuits

  2. Testing: Finding the faults
    1. Test objective: digital/analog, logical/timing
    2. Detection and location

  3. Fault-models: Layers of Reality
    1. Stuck-at fault model and the Single fault assumption
    2. Functional fault models

  4. Combinational test generation: The Easier Problem
    1. Boolean difference
    2. D-notation, Single path propagation and its limitations
    3. D- algorithm and its notation
    4. Criticality and fault collapsing
    5. Test-vector collapsing
    6. Testability, controllability and observability

  5. Testing sequential systems: Avoid or face the sequential nature?
    1. Without feedback: BIST
    2. With feedback: DFT, serial/parallel scan
    3. Initialization
    4. Functional exercising

  6. Higher level models: Forests not trees
    1. Processors and systems

  7. Probability: What is likely to happen?
    1. Events, disjoint, independence, Common discrete/continuous distributions
    2. Mean, variance, correlation
    3. Stochastic processes: Markov, Poisson
    4. MTBF

  8. Black-box Testing: No peeking
    1. Random/pseudo-random testing
    2. Fault coverage, Detectability profiles
    3. Antirandom testing
    4. Checkpoint encoding

  9. Reliability Theory: the foundation
    1. Permanent and temporary failures
    2. Reliability, availability, MTTF
    3. Markov modeling
    4. Steady state values, mission time
    5. Single unit with permanent failures or temporary failures
    6. Combinatorial reliability
    7. Accelerated testing

  10. Reliability Analysis of Redundant Systems
    1. Dynamic redundancy
    2. Static redundancy: replication, general case
    3. Hybrid redundancy
    4. RAID
    5. With permanent and temporary failures
    6. Reliability software packages

  11. Software Reliability: Towards zero-defects
    1. Life cycle phases
    2. Factors affecting defect density
    3. Reliability growth process, Fault exposure ratio
    4. Use of SRGMs
    5. Coverage and reliability
    6. Multi-component systems
    7. Vulnerability discovery models*
    8. Effect of design quality (Coupling/Cohesion)

  12. Time redundancy: Trying again
    1. Check-pointing and roll-back,
    2. Analysis and optimality
    3. Network retransmission (ARQ)
    4. Fault Tolerance in Distributed Systems*

  13. Issues in fault tolerance implementation*
    1. Voter placement
    2. Analog/asynchronous inputs
    3. Clock synchronization
    4. Failed module recovery
    5. Self-testing/duplex systems
      6. Correlated failures

  14. Coding Theory*
    1. Error control coding: Throwing bits at the problem
    2. Hamming distance, Correction and detection capability
    3. Generator/check matrices
    4. Hamming codes
    5. ECC implementation, Scrubbing

  15. Cyclic codes: More capable codes*
    1. Representation
    2. LFSRs and ALFSRs
    3. Signature Analysis
    4. CRC/checksum in networks

  16. Quantitative Security
    1. Vulnerability life-cycle
    2. Risk measure, quantization
    3. CVSS as a risk metric
    4. Vulnerability markets*

* Subject to availability of time

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