Error detection/correction and fault detection/recovery – Pulse or data error handling – Digital logic testing
Reexamination Certificate
2000-06-20
2003-09-23
Decady, Albert (Department: 2133)
Error detection/correction and fault detection/recovery
Pulse or data error handling
Digital logic testing
C702S067000, C716S030000, C703S015000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06625770
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates to methods for analyzing integrated circuits (ICs) during design of the ICs or during failure analysis of those ICs during development. More particularly, present invention relates to a new and improved method of using new information derived from using an existing Verilog circuit simulation tool to develop input prediction information. The input prediction information is thereafter used in conjunction with an existing netlist definition of the circuit to define a cone or rearward extending group of only the relevant circuit components or cells of the IC which cause a particular output signal at a predetermined output signal transition time. Analysis of the IC is facilitated by reducing the amount of time and the tedium required for tracing the circuit in design and failure circumstances.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Most modern semiconductor integrated circuits (ICs) are extremely complex in the number and interconnection of their components or cells. The complexity results from a number of trends in modern electronics. For example, the continual miniaturization of ICs allows more functional cells to be placed on the same sized chip for essentially no additional cost. The cost of an IC is generally related only to the physical size of the substrate upon which the IC is formed and not to the number of components of the IC. Therefore, the effort is to include more cells and functionality in each new IC. The trend in electronics has also been toward integrating entire systems into a single chip, or at least toward integrating larger portions of entire systems into single chips. Such ICs are called application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) or system level integrated circuits (SLICs).
Fabricating a modern, complex IC, such as an ASIC or SLIC, is also a complicated task. The fabrication involves designing the schematic circuitry by using specific cells and connecting them in certain manner, and then simulating the functionality of the schematic circuitry to determine whether the circuitry meets the desired functionality. The design and the simulation are so complex that both functions are generally performed by computer programs or tools designed for those specific purposes. For example, the circuit itself is designed by the use of a behavioral level language, which defines the all of cells in the circuit and their connectivity, and in doing so creates a file known as a netlist which describes those cells and their connectivity. A schematic viewing tool obtains information from the netlist to create a visual display of the circuit and its components. To test the functionality of the circuit, a Verilog simulation program is used. The Verilog simulation program refers to the netlist and additional information which defines the logical function and time delays and other functional factors associated with each of the cells, and develops output state change signals and output transition times for each of the cells in response to a specific input signal. The output state change signals and the output transition times for each of the cells is thereafter displayed by the use of a waveform viewing tool. The waveform viewing tool makes use of the output state change and transition time information derived from the Verilog simulation program to create a display of the waveforms existing at each of the cells in the circuit. The use of behavioral level language circuit synthesis tools and Verilog simulation tools is well-known.
The design and fabrication a semiconductor chip is very complex and usually requires a relatively long period of time, typically measured in months or years to complete. Like any other complex procedure, mistakes or anomalies may arise and prevent proper functionality. Any anomalies arising from fabrication, circuit design errors and oversights, and functional or logic errors must identified and corrected before the semiconductor chip is released for commercial use. The phase of the overall fabrication procedure during which these oversights and anomalies are identified and corrected is referred to as the “debug” stage. It is essential that the design errors and fabrication anomalies be identified and corrected during the debug stage, because otherwise the IC will not achieve its intended functionality. Furthermore, until the errors are identified and understood, corrections may need to be made in the circuit design, the connectivity of the logic cells and/or the fabrication process, to eliminate the defects.
To identify the errors during the debug stage, it is typical to use testers which generate particular signals and combinations of signals that are applied to the fabricated IC, and to measure the response of the IC to these input stimulus signals. The responses are measured both at the output of the IC and internally at different connection points or nodes between the cells. The internal measurements are obtained either by the use of a mechanical probe which physically contacts a, node or by an electron beam device which projects an electron beam onto the node and derives an electrical signal from the electron beam. The signals derived from the actual IC are then compared to the computer tool-simulated signals at the comparable nodes of the simulated schematic circuit. If there is a discrepancy, that discrepancy indicates a problem in the fabrication or design of the IC. Thus, the typical previous approach to identifying the errors is to first obtain the actually-measured signals from the IC under the conditions which create the error, and then compare the actually-measured signals to the signals generated from a waveform simulation based on the circuit schematic.
The large number of very small cells within the typical IC complicates the task of tracing the signal within the IC. The task is made even more difficult by the difficulty in locating particular nodes and cells among the hundreds or thousands of such nodes and cells in a typical IC. Moreover, the task can be further complicated if the engineer or technician who is involved in conducting the tests did not design the circuit. Under such circumstances the test engineer is not as familiar with the circuit design as the design engineer, which further complicates the task and increases the possibility of further inadvertent errors.
Moreover, the complexity arising from the number and connectivity of the cells makes it a very time-consuming task to debug the IC. The debug process begins by identifying the particular circumstances or combination of input signals which create the error. The error is manifested in an erroneous output signal delivered from an output pad of the IC. Knowing the output error signal allows the test engineer to work backward into the preceding logic cells within the IC in an orderly, step-by-step manner to attempt to locate the cells or nodes within the IC which give rise to the error. The error may be caused by any of a series of components through which the preceding signals pass to influence the later-occurring signals and the output signals. Thus, viewed from the rear of the circuit looking forward into the preceding logic cells and nodes of the IC, there is an ever expanding segment or “cone” of logic cells which are possible candidates for generating the error.
To trace a cone of logic cells, it is typical to trace the circuit schematic diagram and identify the logic cells which may have created the error. The tracing occurs manually, by employing mental steps used by the test and debug engineer, aided by the circuit diagram and waveform diagrams presented by the schematic viewing and waveform viewing tools. After identifying the logic cells and connection nodes of those logic cells, the output signal from each of the relevant logic cells is manually obtained from the comparable nodes and cells on the fabricated IC. After obtaining the measured signals, they are compared to the simulated signals. Any discrepancy points to the cause of the error. The complexity of the circuit prevents any other logical approach to identifying the errors, other tha
De'cady Albert
Lamarre Guy
Ley, LLP John H.
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