SEMICONDUCTOR INTEGRATED CIRCUIT INCLUDING MALFUNCTION-DETECTING CIRCUIT AND METHOD OF DESIGNING THE SAME

摘要

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a semiconductor integrated circuit, which allows a malfunction-detecting circuit that can be embodied with a simple circuit structure to be installed without increasing the circuit scale and also can make feasible a countermeasure against a malfunction without relying on any measurement of an analogue quantity such as a temperature or a power supply voltage, in order to cope with loss etc. of data owing to a malfunction of the semiconductor integrated circuit, thereby improving reliability of the semiconductor integrated circuit. SOLUTION: A flip-flop is provided which operates in synchronization with a clock having a phase-lag or phase-lead relative to the clock with which the flip-flop included within a detection-target function block is synchronized; logical operations are performed between the outputs of the two flip-flops; whereby it is detected whether or not a latch operation has been performed at proper edges of clock pulses of the clock pulse trains in the two flip-flops. If it is decided that the latch operation has been performed at improper edges of the clock pulses, then a countermeasure against a malfunction is performed. COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT