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:
Nov. 08, 2005
Filed:
Mar. 23, 2004
Charles Allen Brown, Corvallis, OR (US);
Charles Allen Brown, Corvallis, OR (US);
Agilent Technologies, Inc., Palo Alto, CA (US);
Abstract
The present invention teaches an apparatus for testing the circuitry in an input/output (I/O) pad without probing the contact site on the I/O pad. A dominant driving circuit has an output coupled to a first contact site on a semiconductor chip. A subordinate driving circuit also has an output coupled to the first contact site on the semiconductor chip. A test control circuit sets a drive fight up between the dominant and subordinate driving circuits, the test control circuit selecting a stronger drive strength for the dominant driving circuit than for the subordinate driving circuit. The drive fight produces a test value at the first contact site. The test value from the first contact site is transferred to a second contact site on the semiconductor chip to be probed by an external prober.