METHOD FOR THE CHARACTERIZATION AND MONITORING OF INTEGRATED CIRCUITS

摘要

A method for characterizing an integrated circuit that includes ramping the supply voltage to an integrated circuit as a function of time for each of the transistors in the integrated circuit, and measuring a power supply current for the integrated circuit during the ramping of the power supply voltage. The measured peaks in the power supply current are a current pulse that identifies an operation state in which each of the transistors are in an on state. The peaks in the power supply current are compared to the reference peaks for the power supply current for a reference circuit having a same functionality as the integrated circuit to determine the integrated circuit's fitness.

主权项

1. A method for characterizing an integrated circuit that comprises:
ramping a power supply voltage to an integrated circuit as a function of time from below a threshold voltage for each of the transistors in the integrated circuit to above the threshold voltage for each of the transistors in the integrated circuit; measuring a power supply current for the integrated circuit during said adjusting of the power supply voltage as said function of said time, wherein measured peaks in the power supply current are a current pulse that identifies an operation state of the integrated circuit, in which each of the transistors transition from being unbiased into an “ON” or “OFF” state; and comparing the peaks in the power supply current to reference peaks for a power supply current for a reference circuit having a same functionality as the integrated circuit to determine integrated circuit fitness.