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. 13, 2012
Filed:
Oct. 18, 2011
Applicants:
Vijay Chowdhury, Fremont, CA (US);
Che Ta Hsu, San Jose, CA (US);
Ada Yu, San Francisco, CA (US);
Inventors:
Assignee:
Altera Corporation, San Jose, CA (US);
Attorney:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
G06F 17/50 (2006.01); G06F 19/00 (2011.01); G06F 11/16 (2006.01); H03K 19/00 (2006.01); H01L 25/00 (2006.01); G01R 31/28 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
Abstract
An access pad is used to provide access to a functional block of an integrated circuit (IC) device. The access pad is formed using dummy metal in an open space in a metallization level that is between a top metallization level and a base level on which the functional block is formed in the IC device. The access pad at the metallization level provides a contact to access an underlying circuit of the functional block so that the functional integrity of the functional block of the IC device can be verified during probing.