Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Log inSign up
Challenges
Datasets
Workspaces
Papers
Discussions
Leaderboard
Blog
Job Board
Q3AS

© 2026 Aqora Quantum S.A.S.

TermsPrivacyLegal Notice

arXiv:2202.10697 · ACM Transactions on Design Automation of Electronic Systems

Automatic Test Pattern Generation for Robust Quantum Circuit Testing

Kean Chen, Mingsheng Ying

Published Aug 20, 2024• 6 citations
arXivHTMLPDF

Abstract

Quantum circuit testing is essential for detecting potential faults in realistic quantum devices, while the testing process itself also suffers from the inexactness and unreliability of quantum operations. This article alleviates the issue by proposing a novel framework of automatic test pattern generation (ATPG) for robust testing of logical quantum circuits. We introduce the stabilizer projector decomposition (SPD) for representing the quantum test pattern and construct the test application (i.e., state preparation and measurement) using Clifford-only circuits, which are rather robust and efficient as evidenced in the fault-tolerant quantum computation. However, it is generally hard to generate SPDs due to the exponentially growing number of the stabilizer projectors. To circumvent this difficulty, we develop an SPD generation algorithm, as well as several acceleration techniques that can exploit both locality and sparsity in generating SPDs. The effectiveness of our algorithms are validated by (1) theoretical guarantees under reasonable conditions and (2) experimental results on commonly used benchmark circuits, such as Quantum Fourier Transform (QFT), Quantum Volume (QV), and Bernstein-Vazirani (BV) in IBM Qiskit.

DOI
10.1145/3689333

Related papers

Detection and Diagnosis of Single Faults in Quantum Circuits

Debajyoti Bera

Detection and isolation of faults is a crucial step in the physical realization of quantum circuits. Even though quantum gates and circuits compute reversible functions, the standard techniques of automatic test pattern generation (ATPG) for classical reversible circuits are not directly applicable to quantum circuits. For faulty quantum circuits under the widely accepted single fault assumption, we show that their behavior can be fully characterized by the (single) faulty gate and the corresponding fault model. This allows us to efficiently determine test input states as well as measurement strategy for fault detection and diagnosis. Building on top of these, we design randomized algorithms which are able to detect every nontrivial single-gate fault with minimal probability of error. We also describe similar algorithms for fault diagnosis. We evaluate our algorithms by the number of output samples that needs to be collected and the probability of error. Both of these can be related to the eigenvalues of the operators corresponding to the circuit gates. We experimentally compare all our strategies with the state-of-the-art ATPG techniques for quantum circuits under the “single missing faulty gate” model and demonstrate that significant improvement is possible if we can exploit the quantum nature of circuits.

IEEE Transactions on Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems•Jun 22, 2017•16 citations

APPLYING QUANTUM SEARCH TO AUTOMATED TEST PATTERN GENERATION FOR VLSI CIRCUITS

Amardeep S. G. Singh, Sarbjeet Singh

This paper presents a quantum search algorithm for Automated Test Pattern Generation (ATPG) of VLSI circuits. For given digital circuits, a neural network is created that represents the digital gates with their interconnections as neurons. This neural network is characterized by an energy function E, which is the mathematics representation of neural network. The solution of the energy function gives us the test vector. The test vector is a combination of input values of digital circuits that detects a particular fault. In this paper, specific aspects of quantum theory like superposition and quantum parallelism are applied to find the solution of this energy function. The algorithm developed is so efficient that it requires only [Formula: see text] (where N is the total number of vectors) iterations to find the desired test vector whereas in classical computing, it takes N/2 iterations. At the end, a comparison is made between exhaustive, simulated annealing and quantum based techniques. Experimental results show that the quantum search algorithms are more efficient than classical algorithms and can be applied with more efficiency.

International Journal of Quantum Information•Mar 1, 2003•5 citations

Exact efficient simulation of noisy logical magic states using Clifford stabilizers

Yugo Takada, Stephen D. Bartlett, Dominic J. Williamson

The preparation of high-fidelity logical magic states is a crucial subroutine for universal fault-tolerant quantum computation (FTQC). Predicting the performance of FTQC and developing improved protocols rely on numerical methods to classically simulate logical magic state preparation in the presence of noise. Clifford logic on Pauli-stabilizer codes with circuit-level Pauli errors can be efficiently simulated using Pauli-stabilizer formalism, but the non-Clifford operations required to prepare logical magic states render generic simulation inefficient. We introduce Clifford-stabilizer simulation, an exact and efficient algorithm based on updating a Clifford-stabilizer group to simulate noisy preparation protocols for a broad class of logical magic states used to implement non-Clifford gates in the third level of the Clifford hierarchy under circuit-level Pauli errors. Clifford-stabilizer simulation applies to a range of operations that commonly appear in preparation protocols for such logical magic states, including Pauli-stabilizer measurements, logical Clifford measurements, and transversal non-Clifford gates. Our algorithm for Clifford-stabilizer simulation maps a non-Clifford circuit with sampled circuit-level Pauli errors to a Clifford circuit that exactly reproduces its measurement outcome distribution, achieving time and space complexities polynomial in relevant protocol parameters. We perform exact simulation of magic state cultivation up to fault distance 7 by Clifford-stabilizer simulation. Our method provides a route to perform exact benchmarking of large-scale logical magic state preparation protocols required for useful FTQC.

quant-pharXiv:2609.16929•Sep 16, 2026•0 citations

Diagnosis of single faults in quantum circuits

Debajyoti Bera, Subhamoy Maitra, Sparsa Roychowdhury +1 more

Detecting and isolating faults is crucial for synthesis of quantum circuits. Under the single fault assumption that is now routinely accepted in circuit fault analysis, we show that the behaviour of faulty quantum circuits can be fully characterized by the single faulty gate and the corresponding fault model. This allows us to efficiently determine test input states as well as measurement strategy that can be used to detect every single-gate fault using very few test cases and with minimal probability of error; in fact we demonstrate that most commonly used quantum gates can be isolated without any error under the single missing gate fault (SMGF) model. We crucially exploit the quantum nature of circuits to show vast improvement upon the existing works of automatic test pattern generation (ATPG) for quantum circuits.

arXiv:1512.05051•Dec 16, 2015•2 citations

Synthesis and Optimization of Encoding Circuits for Fault-Tolerant Quantum Computation

Tom Peham, Matthew Steinberg, Robert Wille +1 more

Preparing arbitrary logical states is a central primitive for universal fault-tolerant quantum computation and the cost of encoded-state preparation contributes directly to the overall resource overhead. This makes the synthesis of efficient general-state encoding circuits an important problem, particularly with respect to two-qubit gate count and circuit depth. Yet the synthesis of such encoders has been studied less extensively than general Clifford circuit synthesis or the preparation of specific logical Pauli-eigenstates. In this work, we develop methods for synthesizing efficient encoders for arbitrary stabilizer codes. We formulate encoder synthesis as a search over stabilizer tableaus and introduce greedy and rollout-based algorithms that exploit the freedom among stabilizer-equivalent realizations of the same encoding isometry. For code families with a modular structure, such as generalized concatenated and holographic codes, we show how large encoders can be assembled from optimized local constituent encoders, and we use SMT-based exact synthesis to obtain optimal local circuits for small instances. We further evaluate the proposed methods on a broad set of stabilizer codes, including holographic and quantum low-density parity-check (qLDPC) codes, and compare them against recent encoder-synthesis methods and existing constructions from the literature, obtaining improvements of up to 43% in two-qubit gate count and up to 70% in depth. Our results support the optimization of encoded-state preparation in several fault-tolerant quantum-computing schemes, and all methods are openly available as part of the Munich Quantum Toolkit.

quant-pharXiv:2605.15266•May 18, 2026•0 citations

Automatic Test Pattern Generation using Grover’s Algorithm

Nishant Agrawal

Quantum computing is an exciting new field in the intersection of computer science, physics and mathematics. It refines the central concepts from Quantum mechanics into its least difficult structures, peeling away the complications from the physical world. Any combinational circuit that has only one stuck at fault can be tested by applying a set of inputs that drive the circuit to verify the output response. The outputs of that circuit will be different from the one desired if the faults exist. This project describes a method of generating test patterns using the Boolean satisfaction method. First, the Boolean formula is constructed to express the Boolean difference between a fault-free circuit and a faulty circuit. Second, the Boolean satisfaction algorithm is applied to the formula in the previous step. The Grover algorithm is used to solve the Boolean satisfaction problem. The Boolean Satisfiability problem for Automatic Test Pattern Generation(ATPG) is implemented on IBM Quantum Experience. The Python program initially generates the boolean expression from the file and converts it into Conjunctive Normal Form(CNF) which is passed on to Grover Oracle and runs on IBM simulator and produces excellent results on combinational circuits for test pattern generation with a quadratic speedup. Grover’s Algorithm on this problem has a run time of O(√N).

International Journal for Research in Applied Science and Engineering Technology•Jun 14, 2021•0 citations
Quantum circuit testing is essential for detecting potential faults in realistic quantum devices, while the testing process itself also suffers from the inexactness and unreliability of quantum operations. This article alleviates the issue by proposing a novel framework of automatic test pattern generation (ATPG) for robust testing of logical quantum circuits. We introduce the stabilizer projector decomposition (SPD) for representing the quantum test pattern and construct the test application (i.e., state preparation and measurement) using Clifford-only circuits, which are rather robust and efficient as evidenced in the fault-tolerant quantum computation. However, it is generally hard to generate SPDs due to the exponentially growing number of the stabilizer projectors. To circumvent this difficulty, we develop an SPD generation algorithm, as well as several acceleration techniques that can exploit both locality and sparsity in generating SPDs. The effectiveness of our algorithms are validated by (1) theoretical guarantees under reasonable conditions and (2) experimental results on commonly used benchmark circuits, such as Quantum Fourier Transform (QFT), Quantum Volume (QV), and Bernstein-Vazirani (BV) in IBM Qiskit.
Detection and isolation of faults is a crucial step in the physical realization of quantum circuits. Even though quantum gates and circuits compute reversible functions, the standard techniques of automatic test pattern generation (ATPG) for classical reversible circuits are not directly applicable to quantum circuits. For faulty quantum circuits under the widely accepted single fault assumption, we show that their behavior can be fully characterized by the (single) faulty gate and the corresponding fault model. This allows us to efficiently determine test input states as well as measurement strategy for fault detection and diagnosis. Building on top of these, we design randomized algorithms which are able to detect every nontrivial single-gate fault with minimal probability of error. We also describe similar algorithms for fault diagnosis. We evaluate our algorithms by the number of output samples that needs to be collected and the probability of error. Both of these can be related to the eigenvalues of the operators corresponding to the circuit gates. We experimentally compare all our strategies with the state-of-the-art ATPG techniques for quantum circuits under the “single missing faulty gate” model and demonstrate that significant improvement is possible if we can exploit the quantum nature of circuits.
This paper presents a quantum search algorithm for Automated Test Pattern Generation (ATPG) of VLSI circuits. For given digital circuits, a neural network is created that represents the digital gates with their interconnections as neurons. This neural network is characterized by an energy function E, which is the mathematics representation of neural network. The solution of the energy function gives us the test vector. The test vector is a combination of input values of digital circuits that detects a particular fault. In this paper, specific aspects of quantum theory like superposition and quantum parallelism are applied to find the solution of this energy function. The algorithm developed is so efficient that it requires only [Formula: see text] (where N is the total number of vectors) iterations to find the desired test vector whereas in classical computing, it takes N/2 iterations. At the end, a comparison is made between exhaustive, simulated annealing and quantum based techniques. Experimental results show that the quantum search algorithms are more efficient than classical algorithms and can be applied with more efficiency.
The preparation of high-fidelity logical magic states is a crucial subroutine for universal fault-tolerant quantum computation (FTQC). Predicting the performance of FTQC and developing improved protocols rely on numerical methods to classically simulate logical magic state preparation in the presence of noise. Clifford logic on Pauli-stabilizer codes with circuit-level Pauli errors can be efficiently simulated using Pauli-stabilizer formalism, but the non-Clifford operations required to prepare logical magic states render generic simulation inefficient. We introduce Clifford-stabilizer simulation, an exact and efficient algorithm based on updating a Clifford-stabilizer group to simulate noisy preparation protocols for a broad class of logical magic states used to implement non-Clifford gates in the third level of the Clifford hierarchy under circuit-level Pauli errors. Clifford-stabilizer simulation applies to a range of operations that commonly appear in preparation protocols for such logical magic states, including Pauli-stabilizer measurements, logical Clifford measurements, and transversal non-Clifford gates. Our algorithm for Clifford-stabilizer simulation maps a non-Clifford circuit with sampled circuit-level Pauli errors to a Clifford circuit that exactly reproduces its measurement outcome distribution, achieving time and space complexities polynomial in relevant protocol parameters. We perform exact simulation of magic state cultivation up to fault distance 7 by Clifford-stabilizer simulation. Our method provides a route to perform exact benchmarking of large-scale logical magic state preparation protocols required for useful FTQC.
Detecting and isolating faults is crucial for synthesis of quantum circuits. Under the single fault assumption that is now routinely accepted in circuit fault analysis, we show that the behaviour of faulty quantum circuits can be fully characterized by the single faulty gate and the corresponding fault model. This allows us to efficiently determine test input states as well as measurement strategy that can be used to detect every single-gate fault using very few test cases and with minimal probability of error; in fact we demonstrate that most commonly used quantum gates can be isolated without any error under the single missing gate fault (SMGF) model. We crucially exploit the quantum nature of circuits to show vast improvement upon the existing works of automatic test pattern generation (ATPG) for quantum circuits.
Preparing arbitrary logical states is a central primitive for universal fault-tolerant quantum computation and the cost of encoded-state preparation contributes directly to the overall resource overhead. This makes the synthesis of efficient general-state encoding circuits an important problem, particularly with respect to two-qubit gate count and circuit depth. Yet the synthesis of such encoders has been studied less extensively than general Clifford circuit synthesis or the preparation of specific logical Pauli-eigenstates. In this work, we develop methods for synthesizing efficient encoders for arbitrary stabilizer codes. We formulate encoder synthesis as a search over stabilizer tableaus and introduce greedy and rollout-based algorithms that exploit the freedom among stabilizer-equivalent realizations of the same encoding isometry. For code families with a modular structure, such as generalized concatenated and holographic codes, we show how large encoders can be assembled from optimized local constituent encoders, and we use SMT-based exact synthesis to obtain optimal local circuits for small instances. We further evaluate the proposed methods on a broad set of stabilizer codes, including holographic and quantum low-density parity-check (qLDPC) codes, and compare them against recent encoder-synthesis methods and existing constructions from the literature, obtaining improvements of up to 43% in two-qubit gate count and up to 70% in depth. Our results support the optimization of encoded-state preparation in several fault-tolerant quantum-computing schemes, and all methods are openly available as part of the Munich Quantum Toolkit.
Quantum computing is an exciting new field in the intersection of computer science, physics and mathematics. It refines the central concepts from Quantum mechanics into its least difficult structures, peeling away the complications from the physical world. Any combinational circuit that has only one stuck at fault can be tested by applying a set of inputs that drive the circuit to verify the output response. The outputs of that circuit will be different from the one desired if the faults exist. This project describes a method of generating test patterns using the Boolean satisfaction method. First, the Boolean formula is constructed to express the Boolean difference between a fault-free circuit and a faulty circuit. Second, the Boolean satisfaction algorithm is applied to the formula in the previous step. The Grover algorithm is used to solve the Boolean satisfaction problem. The Boolean Satisfiability problem for Automatic Test Pattern Generation(ATPG) is implemented on IBM Quantum Experience. The Python program initially generates the boolean expression from the file and converts it into Conjunctive Normal Form(CNF) which is passed on to Grover Oracle and runs on IBM simulator and produces excellent results on combinational circuits for test pattern generation with a quadratic speedup. Grover’s Algorithm on this problem has a run time of O(√N).