The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Sep. 15, 1998
Filed:
Jul. 29, 1996
Kuen-Jong Lee, Tainan, TW;
Jing-Jou Tang, Tainan, TW;
National Science Council, Taipei, TW;
Abstract
An apparatus for measuring the current of a CMOS circuit includes a reference current generator to generate a reference current, a first current mirror to mirror the reference current, a second current mirror to mirror the current consumed by the CMOS circuit, an inverter to compare the above two mirrored currents and generate a signal to indicate which current is larger, and a multiplexer to switch between the normal circuit operation mode and the test mode. By this apparatus, it is possible to measure rapidly and accurately whether the CMOS circuit consumes an abnormally large current, thereby determining whether the CMOS circuit contains defects. This apparatus is based on the current-mode approach, hence can provide a high speed signal processing capability and has lower sensitivity to parameter deviation caused by process or operating temperature variations. It also provides scaleable sensing resolutions and programmable current reference.