Ridgetop Group, Inc.

Ardext Technologies, Inc.

Douglas Leonard Goodman

Bert M Vermeire

Abhijit Chatterjee

Philipp S Spuhler

Sasikumar Cherubal

Jacob A Abraham

Sudip Chakrabarti

Harold G Parks

Ramakrishna Voorakaranam

Jeremy John Ralston-Good

Dave Majernik

A prognostic cell is used to predict impending failure of a useful circuit or circuits in a host IC. Increasing the stress on the prognostic cell relative to the useful circuit shifts the failure distribution of the cell along the time axis. The relative amount of time between the useful circuit failure and prognostic cell trigger point is the 'prognostic distance'. The prognostic distance is controlled by designing in the excess stress applied in test device(s), by setting the threshold for triggering in the comparison circuit or by both. Prediction accuracy is enhanced by using multiple test devices to oversample the underlying failure distribution and triggering the failure indicator when a certain fraction fail.

Prognostic cell for predicting failure of integrated circuits

A die-level process monitor (DLPM) provides a means for independently determining whether an IC malfunction is a result of the design or the manufacturing processing and further for gathering data on specific process parameters. The DLPM senses parameter variations that result from manufacturing process drift and outputs a measure of the process parameter. The DLPM will typically sense the mismatch of process parameters between two or more test devices as a measure of process variation between a like pair of production devices. The DLPM may be used as a diagnostic tool to determine why an IC failed to perform within specification or to gather statistics on measured process parameters for a given foundry or process.

Die-level process monitor and method

A method for testing a system on a chip or a system on a package (''SOPC') having a plurality of internal modules that are tested to determine whether predetermined performance specifications are satisfied. A first module of the SOPC is selected for testing. A determination is made as to whether the first module is directly accessible or not. If the first module is directly accessible, the module may be tested with automated test equipment external to the SOPC. If the first module is not directly accessible, the module may be tested with a second and third module of the SOPC.

Method and apparatus for testing a system-on-a-chip

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Tucson, AZ, United States of America

Douglas Leonard Goodman