Patent ID: 6973391

Claim:
A method of predicting whether a failure of an electrical device may occur if a receiver within the electrical device is subjected to a noise pulse, the receiver having a circuit type and a beta-ratio, the noise pulse having an amplitude and a width, the method comprising: a) locating an integrated circuit that drives the receiver, the integrated circuit that drives the receiver having a circuit type; b) locating an integrated circuit that is driven by the receiver, the integrated circuit that is driven by the receiver having a circuit type and a capacitance; c) selecting, based at least in part upon the circuit type of the receiver, a plurality of noise-tolerance curves; d) selecting, based at least in part upon the capacitance of the integrated circuit that is driven by the receiver, the circuit type of the integrated circuit driven by the receiver, and the beta-ratio of the receiver, one of the plurality of noise-tolerance curves; e) selecting a set of noise-propagation constants based at least in part upon the circuit type of the integrated circuit that drives the receiver; f) selecting a noise-propagation constant from the set of noise-propagation constants based at least in part upon the receiver circuit type; g) generating an offset noise-tolerance curve by offsetting the selected one of the plurality of noise-tolerance curves by the noise-propagation constant; h) detennining, based at least in part upon the offset noise-tolerance curve and the width of the noise pulse, a noise-tolerance; and i) comparing the noise-tolerance to the amplitude of the noise pulse.