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:
May. 29, 2007
Filed:
Mar. 31, 2004
William Hugh Cochran, Rochester, MN (US);
William Paul Hovis, Rochester, MN (US);
William Hugh Cochran, Rochester, MN (US);
William Paul Hovis, Rochester, MN (US);
International Business Machines Corporation, Armonk, NY (US);
Abstract
A method and apparatus are provided for detecting degradation, such as, array degradation and logic degradation, in integrated circuits (ICs) including application specific integrated circuits (ASICs). A monitor built-in self-test (MBIST) engine coupled to at least one monitor element that is defined by predefined circuit elements in the integrated circuit. The MBIST engine is used for controlling operation of at least one monitor element for communicating with monitor bits to identify degradation of signal, timing and voltage margins.