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:
Jul. 04, 2000
Filed:
Feb. 23, 1998
Jeffrey K Greason, Portland, OR (US);
Daniel R Grumbling, Beaverton, OR (US);
Intel Corporation, Santa Clara, CA (US);
Abstract
A method and apparatus for detecting resistive defects in a memory device. A pulldown device is placed at the end of a wordline opposite the end of the wordline having a wordline driver. When the test mode is enabled the wordline pulldown device is turned on. By tailoring the on resistance of the pulldown device such that it is a few times larger than the wordline wire resistance, a resistive divider may be created between the wordline wire resistance and the pulldown device resistance. If a resistive defect exists in the wordline, the increased wordline resistance will create a voltage drop in the wordline when the pulldown device is turned on. This voltage drop indicates that a defect exists in the wordline, and the defect may be located by determining the area of the wordline in which the voltage drop occurs.