US Patent 7613974 Fault detection method and apparatus

This invention relates to fault detection in electrical circuits. The invention provides a method and apparatus for testing an input circuit by generating a periodic test signal having a predetermined phase and a predetermined amplitude; summing the test signal and an input signal to provide a summed signal; processing the summed signal to provide an output signal; generating an extracted test signal from the output signal; comparing the extracted test signal with a reference signal representing said periodic test signal; generating an error signal in dependence upon the result of said comparing step. The invention also provides a method and apparatus for testing a plurality of adjacent input circuits.