Patent · US Active

Method of generating test patterns for detecting small delay defects

US9201116B1 · kind B1 · utility

0Cited by
6References
13Claims
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Key dates

Filing dateJul 25, 2014
Grant dateDec 1, 2015
Priority date
Expiry dateAug 21, 2034

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG01R31/318328
  • WIPO fieldMeasurement
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

A method of generating test patterns for testing a semiconductor processor for small delay defects (SDD) includes modifying interconnect delay values of interconnect paths by introducing values corresponding to (i) set-up and clock to Q delays of elements in the paths and (ii) latencies of associated clock networks. Critical nodes are selected and test patterns targeting the selected critical nodes are generated using timing slack resulting from the modified interconnect delays. A first selection of nodes that are critical in at-speed scan mode testing and a second selection of nodes that are critical in functional mode testing are made by static timing analysis (STA). Only the nodes featuring in both the first and second selections are selected for targeting small delay defects using at-speed scan test patterns.

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