Configuration of semiconductor device supply voltage

摘要

A calibration process determines a desired supply voltage for operating an electronic device. During the calibration process automatic test equipment controls a power supply to sweep the supply voltage to the electronic device across a predefined voltage range while monitoring a performance characteristic of the electronic device. The automatic test equipment determines the desired operating voltage based on a minimum supply voltage at which the monitored performance characteristic meets a minimum acceptable performance standard and stores the desired operating voltage to a non-volatile storage. During a startup sequence, the electronic device controls the power supply to provide the desired operating voltage as the supply voltage to the electronic device.

主权项

1. A method for determining a supply voltage for operating an electronic device of an integrated circuit, the method comprising:
sweeping the supply voltage across a voltage range; monitoring a performance characteristic of the electronic device at a plurality of different time points while sweeping the supply voltage across the voltage range, wherein monitoring the performance characteristic at a given time point of the plurality of different time points comprises:
counting a number of cycles of a first clock signal;counting of a number of cycles of a second clock signal;generating an indicator signal responsive to a threshold number of cycles of the first clock signal being reached;stopping counting of the number of cycles of the second clock signal responsive to the indicator signal indicating that the threshold number of cycles of the first clock signal has been reached; andoutputting the number of clock cycles of the second clock signal counted prior to the indicator signal being generated as the performance characteristic associated with the given time point; identifying a minimum voltage at which the performance characteristic achieves a predefined performance level; and storing the identified minimum voltage to a register of the electronic device.