Mitsubishi Denki Kabushiki Kaisha

Other

Mitsubishi Electric Corporation

Yoshiki Wada

Kimio Ueda

Koichiro Mashiko

Yuuichi Hirano

Shigenobu Maeda

Hirotada Kuriyama

Harufusa Kondoh

Hiroshi Komurasaki

Takanori Hirota

Shuji Yoshida

A signal monitoring device, a signal transmission/reception device and a communication device, which realize easy acquisition of a diagnosis result and a signal value, and further realize fast acquisition of the diagnosis result. A signal monitoring device includes: a difference value calculator that time-sequentially calculates, for a signal to be monitored, a difference value between a signal value thereof and a previously set threshold; and a storage that updates and stores the time-sequentially calculated difference value in accordance with a previously set rule.

Signal monitoring apparatus, signal transmitting/receiving apparatus, and communication apparatus

A semiconductor device having an SOI structure having a contact for making steady the potential of a semiconductor substrate without involvement of an increase in the surface of the semiconductor device. In a semiconductor chip, an integrated circuit is fabricated within an internal circuit region, and a plurality of buffer circuits are fabricated within buffer regions. Wiring layers for supplying steady potential are formed in the area of the semiconductor chip other than the internal circuit region and the buffer regions; for example, at four corners of the semiconductor chip, and contacts for connecting the wiring layers and the semiconductor substrate are formed in the area of the integrated circuit which is not assigned for fabrication of integrated circuits, thus eliminating a necessity for ensuring a location specifically allocated for formation of the contacts.

Semiconductor device having steady substrate potential

A semiconductor integrated circuit includes inverters and a PMOS transistor which are disposed for a first signal, and inverters and a PMOS transistor which are disposed for a second signal substantially complementary to the first signal. By the transistors, potentials of signal lines are driven. A transistor for 1.8 V is used for each of the transistors and the inverters at the rear stage. A transistor for 3.3 V is used for each of the inverters at the front stage. With the configuration, the complementary signals are transmitted at optimum timings.

Semiconductor integrated circuit having circuit for transmitting input signal

An inductor recognition method for recognizing an inductor, a layout inspection method wherein it is possible to automatically carry out a verification of a design standard, in the inductor and a process for a semiconductor device using this layout inspection method are provided. The inductor recognition method includes the step of arranging an inductor position representation mark so as to surround a design pattern of an interconnection part, which works as an inductor and has a starting point and a finishing point; the step of arranging a starting point position representation mark and a finishing point position representation mark so as to surround, respectively, regions corresponding to the starting point and the finishing point; and the step of recognizing information with respect to an inductor by means of the inductor position representation mark, the starting point position representation mark and the finishing point position representation mark.

Inductor recognition method, layout inspection method, computer readable recording medium in which a layout inspection program is recorded and process for a semiconductor device

A Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI) CMOS circuit includes a plurality of PMOS transistors connected in series to each other and at least one NMOS transistor connected to one of the PMOS transistors. The NMOS transistor has its body connected to a low reference potential having a value of ground. The SOI CMOS circuit further includes a body potential generating circuit which generates a body potential between a high reference potential and a potential obtained by subtracting a built-in potential from the high reference potential. The body potential generating circuit applies the high potential to the bodies of the PMOS transistors.

Silicon-on-insulator CMOS circuit

A field shield portion consisting of a kind of transistor is formed to electrically insulate an NMOS region of a memory cell from other regions. The field shield portion includes a field shield gate electrode layer, a p type region and a gate insulating film. Threshold value of this transistor is set higher than the power supply voltage, and field gate electrode layer thereof is in a floating state. It is unnecessary to provide a contact portion for applying a prescribed voltage at field shield gate electrode layer. Therefore, the region for forming the contact portion in field shield gate electrode layer can be reduced. As a result, a semiconductor device of which layout area is reduced, is provided.

SOI Semiconductor device with field shield electrode

A body voltage controlled semiconductor integrated circuit which can solve a problem of a conventional CMOS inverter in that it cannot operate at a supply voltage beyond the built-in voltage of the CMOS transistors if their body electrodes are each connected to their own gate electrodes rather than to their source electrodes to quicken the operation of the CMOS inverter. A voltage divider circuit is provided which conducts during the operation of the CMOS transistors of the inverter so that the body voltages of the PMOS transistor or the NMOS transistor of the inverter is varied in the direction of reducing their threshold voltages. By controlling the size of electrodes and the voltages applied to the body electrodes of transistors constituting the voltage divider circuit, it becomes possible to operate the CMOS inverter at the supply voltage beyond the built-in voltage.

Body voltage controlled semiconductor integrated circuit

A Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI) CMOS circuit comprises a plurality of PMOS transistors connected in series to each other, each of the plurality of PMOS transistors having its body and gate connected to each other, and at least an NMOS transistor connected to one of the plurality of PMOS transistors, the NMOS transistor having its body connected to a low reference potential having a value of ground. The SOI CMOS circuit can further comprise a plurality of potential limiting circuits each connected between the body and gate of each of the plurality of PMOS transistors, for setting a lower limit of the potential of the body of each of the plurality of PMOS transistors to a voltage between a high reference potential and a potential obtained by subtracting a built-in potential from the high reference potential.

Silicon-on-insulator circuit having series connected PMOS transistors each having connected body and gate

A current mode logic circuit has a first and second NMOS transistors N1 and N2, an input terminal IN connected to both gates of the first and second NMOS transistors N1 and N2 to input data, a reference voltage input terminal REF, an output terminal OUT connected to a drain of the first NMOS transistor N1, and a current power source I connected both sources of the first and second NMOS transistors N1 and N2. Body terminals of the first and second NMOS transistors N1 and N2 are connected to the input terminal IN and the reference terminal REF, respectively so that the body voltage of each of the first and second NMOS transistors N1 and N2 is controlled.

Current mode logic circuit, source follower circuit, and flip flop

In each of basic cells (BC) arranged in array in an SOI layer, PMOS and NMOS transistors are symmetrically formed. Body regions (11) and (12) are formed to divide source/drain layers (1) and (2), respectively, and gate electrodes (3) and (4) are formed on the body regions (11) and (12) respectively to sandwich gate insulating films therebetween. The gate electrodes (3) and (4) are connected at their both ends to gate contact regions (5) to (8), respectively, and the body regions (11) and (12) are connected at their one ends to body contact regions (9) and (10), respectively. The body contact regions (9) and (10) are so arranged as to sandwich the gate contact regions (5) and (7) together with the gate electrodes (3) and (4), respectively. Being of a SOI type, the device achieves high-speed operation and low power consumption. Further, with positional relation between the body contact regions (9), (10) and the gate contact regions (5), (7), the device is capable of freely setting the transistors to be of either a gate control type or a gate fixed type. As a result, the gate array type semiconductor device achieves high-speed operation and low power consumption.

Gate array semiconductor device

A flip-flop circuit is constituted of two latch circuits of the same structure that are cascaded. The latch circuits each includes an inverter formed of a P channel transistor and an N channel transistor, an N channel transistor connected between a common node and a ground node, and two data input/output terminals. Two kinds of clock signals supplied to gates of N channel transistors are complementary to each other.

Latch circuit and flip-flop circuit reduced in power consumption

A current mode logic circuit has a first and second NMOS transistors N1 and N2, an input terminal IN connected to both gates of the first and second NMOS transistors N1 and N2 to input data, a reference voltage input terminal REF, an output terminal OUT connected to a drain of the first NMOS transistor N1, and a current power source I connected both sources of the first and second NMOS transistors N1 and N2. Body terminals of the first and second NMOS transistors N1and N2 are connected to the input terminal IN and the reference terminal REF, respectively so that the body voltage of each of the first and second NMOS transistors N1 and N2 is controlled.

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Yoshiki Wada