Method and structure for chip-level testing of wire delay...

Details Method and structure for chip-level testing of wire delay... Method and structure for chip-level testing of wire delay...

2005-06-30

2009-02-10

Mis, David (Department: 2817)

Oscillators

With frequency calibration or testing

C331S057000

Reexamination Certificate

active

07489204

ABSTRACT:
Disclosed are a method and a structure for testing location-specific wire delay at a chip-level independent of silicon delay. The invention incorporates the use of a tester embedded in a metal layer of a chip. The tester comprises a ring oscillator that is selectively connected to either a first wire or a second wire by a multiplexer. A monitor measures ring frequencies of the ring oscillator when connected to either the first or second wire. A processor determines the wire delay based upon differences in the ring frequencies. Additional testers or multiple stages of a single tester may be embedded into either the same metal layer at a different location or into a different metal layer to allow for intra-metal layer or inter-metal layer comparisons of wire delay. Since metal capacitance and silicon load remains constant for both the first and second wires and the transient voltage change along the wire is hold small, metal delay is separable from delay due to silicon device performance. Pass/Fail criteria based upon a maximum allowable resistance-capacitance delay for a metal layer or based upon a comparison of resistance-capacitance delays across the same metal layer or between metal layers can be used to reject a chip.

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