Test generation for microfluidic fully programmable valve arrays (FPVAs) with heuristic acceleration

Microfluidic biochips are revolutionizing the traditional bio-chemical experiment flow because of their capability of miniaturized fluid manipulation and high execution efficiency. To improve the flexibility of such chips, a new 2D architecture called Fully Programmable Valve Array (FPVA) has been introduced, which enables flexible assay execution and supports inherent fault-tolerance. With recent advances in manufacturing technology, the integration of such biochips also increases rapidly, thus providing a good potential for biochemical labs and health centers to explore new paradigms of diagnostic experiments. Such chips, however, may suffer from a number of defects after manufacturing. To identify chips that do not function properly, test patterns such as flows through paths and cuts need to be generated. In this paper, we introduce a test generation method together with a heuristic technique that deals with loops in test paths and cuts. Simulation results confirm the efficiency of this method.