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. 18, 2002
Filed:
Aug. 24, 1999
Frode Larsen, Tinton Falls, NJ (US);
Sam Olu George, Lakewood, NJ (US);
Globespan, Inc., Red Bank, NJ (US);
Abstract
A system and method for providing automatic compensation of IC design parameters that vary as a result of natural process variation is disclosed. In a simplified embodiment, the difference in voltages, &Dgr;V , between two identical diode-connected MOSFETs, which are biased with currents that are known to be different in value, is determined. &Dgr;V , is inversely proportional to the transconductance of the first of the two diode-connected MOSFETs, which is also biased with a current, I . A relationship that embodies a direct proportionality between the transconductance of the first diode-connected MOSFET and a circuit performance parameter is derived, thereby establishing a relationship between &Dgr;V and the circuit performance parameter. Process compensation is then implemented, comparing known reference voltages with &Dgr;V . The outputs of the comparison are latched into digital decoding logic which provides coarse steering (process compensation) current to a functional circuit, thereby centering the circuit with respect to process.