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:
Feb. 21, 2012
Filed:
Jun. 27, 2007
Chad A. Lindhorst, Seattle, WA (US);
Todd E. Humes, Shoreline, WA (US);
Andrew E. Horch, Seattle, WA (US);
Ernest Allen, Iii, Seattle, WA (US);
Chad A. Lindhorst, Seattle, WA (US);
Todd E. Humes, Shoreline, WA (US);
Andrew E. Horch, Seattle, WA (US);
Ernest Allen, III, Seattle, WA (US);
Synopsys, Inc., Mountian View, CA (US);
Abstract
One Time Programmable (OTP) memory structures and methods for pretesting the support circuitry are provided. A group of dedicated test cells associated with one or more groups of regular OTP cells are used to test the support circuitry for the regular OTP cells. The dedicated cells are programmed and read. The read values are compared to the programmed values or expected values. As a result of the comparison, failing memories may be designated 'Not Usable', while regular OTP cells of passing memories can be programmed for their purpose resulting in elimination of wasted memories during test.