Design of an Efficient PRPG for Testing an Approximate Multiplier Using Truncation

For error-tolerant applications, low power and small area can be achieved by approximation in calculation with acceptable loss of accuracy. Truncation of lower bits based on the number of significant digits is one of the techniques proposed for approximate multiplier. This paper proposes the area reduction of built-in self test (BIST) circuitry for an approximate multiplier. The proposed pseudo random pattern generator (PRPG) provides test patterns to the multiplier such that truncation occurs evenly in the input numbers. The fault simulation results show that the proposed circuit can achieve higher fault coverage in the small area overhead required for PRPG.