突變式分析法 (Mutation Analysis) 屬於一種基於錯誤的模擬法。我們將程式裡簡單的語意的改變稱為錯誤(mutant) ，並且針對程式裡的這些錯誤作偵測,透過測試向量的品質以衡量驗證環境。在程式裡一個潛在的錯誤(living mutant)意味著這個錯誤效應無法在電路的輸出端被觀察到。由於暫存器轉移層(RTL)裡複雜的條件式以及較大的變數導致電路裡面存在一些潛在的錯誤。之前和突變式分析法相關的研究主要著重在模擬過程中減少成本，然而，只有少數的研究著致力於產生測試向量以偵測這些錯誤。這篇論文提出了以基因演算法產生測試向量以偵測電路中的錯誤，因而改善驗證環境的品質。在我們的實驗裡，我們以邏輯閘層(gate-level netlist)上沒有被偵測到的錯誤(fault)當成暫存器轉移層上的錯誤,我們透過以PODEM 實作的測試向量自動產生器(ATPG)來產生邏輯閘層上那些很難被偵測到的錯誤。實驗結果顯示我們的方法可以很有效的產生測試向量以偵測那些很難被偵測到的錯誤。

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