Method and apparatus for automatically isolating minimal distinguishing stimuli in design verification and software development
US7017150B2 · kind B2 · utility
4Cited by
10References
8Claims
0Family size
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 29, 2001 |
| Grant date | Mar 21, 2006 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Jul 5, 2023 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F11/362
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
The invention provides a method for detecting and isolating software bugs and generating a minimal set of stimuli to reproduce the bugs. The present invention utilizes a recursive algorithm to compare the output of successively smaller software blocks of a program in development to a verified output sample. The smallest software blocks which are found to contain a bug are isolated. For each of these isolated blocks, the smallest input vector is determined such that the application of this vector to the block expresses the bug. The present invention utilizes a separate recursive algorithm to determine these minimal vectors.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.