Charge-based frequency measurement BIST

Introduction Analog and mixed-signal testing is an important issue that affects both the time-to-market and product cost of many modem electronic systems. One key to the success of products with these properties is Built-In Self-Test (BIST) of circuits and systems. Although BIST for digital integrated circuits (IC) is widely used, manufacturers of mixed-signal IC's continue to search for an appropriate BIST solution. An important concern of IC manufacturers is the
“overhead” required to implement BIST on their systems. Technology description Researchers at the University of Washington have invented a charge-based frequency measurement BIST (CF-BIST) for clock circuits and oscillator circuits that requires no outside test stimulus and produces a digital test output. The CF-BIST technique performs structural and defect-oriented testing and uses existing blocks to save die area. The technique adds a multiplexer to the non-sensitive digital path. The system uses the existing VCO as the measuring device and divide-by-N as a frequency counter to reduce the area overhead. The described technique produces an efficient pass/fail evaluation, low-cost and practical implementation of on-chip BIST structure. Business opportunity The latent demand for integrated microcircuits, semiconductor networks, microprocessors, and MOS memories is currently $291.9 billion. It is estimated to grow to $350 billion by 2011. The mixed-signal IC market has grown 15% to 20% per year since the early 1990s

Patents:
US 6,885,700

Type of Offer: Licensing



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