Renesas Electronics Corporation

Renesas Technology Corp.

Fuji Photo Film Company, Limited

Fujifilm Corporation

Ryo Mori

Kazuki Fukuoka

Toshio Sasaki

Yoshihiko Yasu

Takashi Kuraishi

Masaya Morita

Toshio Yamada

Osamu Ozawa

Naozumi Morino

Yoshinori Deguchi

Fumio Yuito

Yasuto Igarashi

Toshifumi Uemura

Yuko Kitaji

Tetsuya Muraya

Koichiro Ishibashi

Kenichi Shimada

Shinsuke Aoshima

Nobuyasu Akiyoshi

Kazuyoshi Suehara

Yukihiko Yamaguchi

Yoshihiro Tominaga

Shoichi Uchida

Fusao Ichikawa

Hiroyuki Ota

Takao Nomura

A semiconductor device includes: a plurality of cores configured to receive power from a power supply; a plurality of power switch circuits provided for each core and configured to control the power supplied to the corresponding cores; a compare circuit configured to receive power from the power supply and compare output data of the plurality of cores; and a core voltage monitor circuit configured to monitor a voltage of a node that connects the power supply and the compare circuit.

Semiconductor device including power failure detection circuit

A semiconductor device includes a voltage sensor which samples a power supply voltage at a speed faster than fluctuations in the power supply voltage and encodes the power supply voltage into a voltage code value. A voltage drop determination circuit detects a voltage drop based on the voltage code value, and a clock control circuit generates a clock. The clock control circuit stops the clock when the voltage drop determination circuit detects the voltage drop. The voltage drop determination circuit includes a prediction computation circuit which looks ahead a voltage value from a history of the voltage code value and predicts a variation value, and the prediction computation circuit includes a circuit for masking a prediction value if a differential value of the prediction value is continuously negative for a predetermined cycle.

Semiconductor device

There is provided a semiconductor device that can follow a fast voltage change such as a large voltage drop occurring at the time of rapid load fluctuation. The semiconductor device includes a voltage sensor which monitors a power supply voltage at a sampling speed higher than the assumed frequency of power supply voltage fluctuation and outputs a voltage code value, a voltage drop determination circuit which determines, from the voltage code value, that a voltage drop causing a malfunction of a system occurs, and outputs a clock stop signal, and a clock control circuit which controls clock stop, restart, and frequency change.

A semiconductor device capable of controlling a memory while preventing the functional deterioration of the memory and reducing the power consumption of the semiconductor device is provided. The semiconductor device includes a first semiconductor chip (logic chip) and a second semiconductor chip (memory chip). The first semiconductor chip includes a plurality of temperature sensors disposed in mutually different places, and a memory controller that controls each of a plurality of memory areas provided in the second semiconductor chip based on output results of a respective one of the plurality of temperature sensors.

A semiconductor device includes a substrate including a circuit region where a circuit element is formed, a multilayer wiring layer that is formed on the substrate and composed of a plurality of wiring layers and a plurality of via layers that are laminated, and an electrode pad that is formed on the multilayer wiring layer. An interlayer insulating film is formed in a region of a first wiring layer that is a top layer of the plurality of wiring layers, in the region the electrode pad and the first circuit region overlapping each other in a planar view of the electrode pad.

Semiconductor device and manufacturing method for the same

Efficient reduction in power consumption is achieved by combinational implementation of a power cutoff circuit technique using power supply switch control and a DVFS technique for low power consumption. A power supply switch section fed with power supply voltage, a circuit block in which a power cutoff is performed by the power supply switch section, and a level shifter are formed in a DEEP-NWELL region formed over a semiconductor substrate. Another power supply switch section fed with another power supply voltage, a circuit block in which a power cutoff is performed by the power supply switch section, and a level shifter are formed in another DEEP-NWELL region formed over the semiconductor substrate. In this arrangement, there arises no possibility of short-circuiting between different power supplies via each DEEP-NWELL region formed over the semiconductor substrate.

Semiconductor integrated circuit device

The present invention is directed to perform fine low-voltage control without largely increasing the circuit layout area in a low-power consumption structure. In the case of shifting a region to a low-speed mode, a system controller outputs a request signal and an enable signal to a power switch controller and a low-power drive circuit, respectively, to turn off a power switch and to perform a control so that the voltage level of a virtual reference potential becomes about 0.2 V to about 0.3V. The region operates on voltages between a power supply voltage and a virtual reference potential, so that it is controlled in the low-speed mode.

A technology that makes it possible to reduce fluctuation in operating voltage for operating the circuits formed in the core region of a semiconductor device is provided. This semiconductor device is so arranged that the core region is divided into multiple functional blocks and power can be supplied and this power supply can be interrupted with respect to each of the divided functional blocks. The core region formed in the semiconductor chip is divided into multiple functional blocks. A power switch row in which multiple power switches are arranged is disposed in the boundaries between the divided functional blocks. These power switches have a function of controlling the supply of reference potential to each of functional blocks and the interruption of this supply. A feature of the invention is that reference pads are disposed directly above the power switch rows. This shortens the wires coupling together the reference pads and the power switches.

A plurality of MOS transistors each having an SOI structure includes, in mixed form, those brought into body floating and whose body voltages are fixed and variably set. When a high-speed operation is expected in a logic circuit in which operating power is relatively a low voltage and a switching operation is principally performed, body floating may be adopted. Body voltage fixing may be adopted in an analog system circuit that essentially dislikes a kink phenomenon of a current-voltage characteristic. Body bias variable control may be adopted in a logic circuit that requires the speedup of operation in an active state and needs low power consumption in a standby state. Providing in mixed form the transistors which are subjected to the body floating and the body voltage fixing and which are variably controlled in body voltage, makes it easier to adopt an accurate body bias according to a circuit function and a circuit configuration in terms of the speedup of operation and the low power consumption.

Semiconductor integrated circuit

The semiconductor integrated circuit has so-called SOI type first MOS transistors (MNtk, MPtk) and second MOS transistors (MNtn, MPtn). The first MOS transistors have a gate isolation film thicker than that the second MOS transistors have. The first and second MOS transistors constitute a power-supply-interruptible circuit () and a power-supply-uninterrupted circuit (). The power-supply-interruptible circuit has the first MOS transistors each constituting a power switch () between a source line (VDD) and a ground line (VSS), and the second MOS transistors connected in series with the power switch. A gate control signal for the first MOS transistors each constituting a power switch is made larger in amplitude than that for the second MOS transistors. This enables power-source cutoff control with a high degree of flexibility commensurate with the device isolation structure, which an SOI type semiconductor integrated circuit has originally.

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Ryo Mori