Patent · US Expired

Method for monitoring and improving integrated circuit fabrication using FPGAs

US7020860B1 · kind B1 · utility

15Cited by
4References
21Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMar 24, 2004
Grant dateMar 28, 2006
Priority date
Expiry dateApr 8, 2024

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG01R31/318519
  • WIPO fieldMeasurement
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

Methods for monitoring and improving the fabrication process of integrated circuits using configurable devices are described. In one aspect, the method includes instantiating a test pattern on one or more configurable devices fabricated using the fabrication process, identifying an underperforming region of the configurable devices, and determining if the underperforming region is layout sensitive. At least one of the fabrication process and the layout of the configurable device can then be adjusted based on the determination. In some embodiments, the configurable device may be a programmable logic device, such as a field programmable logic array.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.