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:
Jun. 26, 2001
Filed:
Feb. 10, 1999
Mehrdad Mahanpour, Union City, CA (US);
Jose Hulog, San Jose, CA (US);
Advanced Micro Devices, Inc., Sunnyvale, CA (US);
Abstract
A system and method for detecting a type of a short of a plurality of types of shorts in a circuit in a semiconductor device is disclosed. The circuit includes a plurality of power supply lines and a plurality of ground lines. The short is between at least one of the plurality of power supply lines and at least one of the plurality of ground lines. In one aspect, the method and system include providing a library including a plurality of sets of current-voltage characteristics. Each of the plurality of sets of current-voltage characteristics is for a particular type of short of the plurality of types of shorts. In this aspect, the method and system further include measuring a particular set of current-voltage characteristics of the semiconductor device and comparing the particular set of current-voltage characteristics to the plurality of sets of current-voltage characteristics in the library. The type of short may be determined based on the comparison between the particular set of current-voltage characteristics and the plurality of sets of current-voltage characteristics in the library. In another aspect, the method and system provide a tool for detecting the type of a short. In this aspect, the method and system include creating a plurality of types of shorts in a functioning semiconductor device, measuring a plurality of sets of current-voltage characteristics for the functioning semiconductor device, and saving the plurality of sets of current-voltage characteristics in a library.