18512792. SYSTEMS AND METHODS TO DETECT CELL-INTERNAL DEFECTS simplified abstract (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.)
SYSTEMS AND METHODS TO DETECT CELL-INTERNAL DEFECTS
Organization Name
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
Inventor(s)
Ankita Patidar of San Jose CA (US)
Sandeep Kumar Goel of Dublin CA (US)
SYSTEMS AND METHODS TO DETECT CELL-INTERNAL DEFECTS - A simplified explanation of the abstract
This abstract first appeared for US patent application 18512792 titled 'SYSTEMS AND METHODS TO DETECT CELL-INTERNAL DEFECTS
Simplified Explanation
The patent application describes a method for identifying cell-internal defects in an integrated circuit by injecting a defect into circuit elements and interconnects, then analyzing current waveforms to annotate an input/output table of the cell with the defect.
- Circuit design of an integrated circuit with netlists of cells
- Injecting defects into circuit elements and interconnects
- Retrieving current waveforms with and without defects
- Annotating input/output table based on waveform analysis
Potential Applications
- Quality control in semiconductor manufacturing
- Fault diagnosis in electronic devices
Problems Solved
- Identifying internal defects in integrated circuits
- Improving reliability of electronic systems
Benefits
- Enhanced quality assurance processes
- Increased reliability of integrated circuits
- Cost-effective defect identification in electronic devices
Original Abstract Submitted
A method of identifying cell-internal defects: obtaining a circuit design of an integrated circuit, the circuit design including netlists of one or more cells coupled to one another; identifying the netlist corresponding to one of the one or more cells; injecting a defect to one of a plurality of circuit elements and one or more interconnects of the cell; retrieving a first current waveform at a location of the cell where the defect is injected by applying excitations to inputs of the cell; retrieving, without the defect injected, a second current waveform at the location of the cell by applying the same excitations to the inputs of the cell; and selectively annotating, based on the first current waveform and the second current waveform, an input/output table of the cell with the defect.
