Overheat protection circuit and method in an accelerated aging test of an integrated circuit
AssigneeMicron Technology, Inc.
InventorsRonny Schneider, Martin Brox, Juan-Antonio Ocon-Garrido
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
To include in a device a controller to control operation of the device in a normal-operation mode and in a test mode for performing one or more tests including an accelerated aging test, a temperature sensor to measure operating temperature of the device, and an overheat protection circuit to prevent overheating of the memory device during the test mode. With this overheat protection circuit, a device may undergo an efficient and reliable accelerated aging test with reduced or non-existent, possibility of suffering an overheat damage.
Claims16
An integrated circuit chip, comprising:
- a controller configured to control an operation of the integrated circuit chip in an accelerated aging test mode;
- and
- an over-temperature monitor circuit coupled to the controller and configured to detect an over-temperature of the integrated circuit chip and output a state indicating the over-temperature during the accelerated aging test mode, wherein the over-temperature monitor circuit includes:
- a temperature sensor configured to measure a temperature of the integrated circuit chip;
- a memory area configured to memorize a trigger point;
- a comparator circuit configured to compare the measured temperature and the trigger point, and to output a compared result;
- and
- a selector circuit configured to automatically select between a plurality of voltage levels to be used as an internal operating voltage based on the compared result from the comparator circuit, wherein the selector circuit is further configured to periodically check the compared result, and iteratively select a next lower of the plurality of voltages if the current temperature is above the trigger point or select a next higher of the plurality of voltages if the current temperature is below the trigger point.
A memory chip, comprising:
- a controller configured to control an operation of the memory chip in an accelerated aging test mode;
- a temperature sensor configured to measure a temperature of the memory chip:
- a comparator circuit configured to be activated during the accelerated aging test mode to compare the temperature of the memory chip during the accelerated aging test mode with a predetermined value and output a compared result;
- and
- a selector circuit configured to automatically select between a plurality of voltage levels to be used as an internal operating voltage based on the compared result from the comparator, wherein the selector circuit is further configured to periodically check the compared result, and iteratively select a next lower of the plurality of voltages if the current temperature is above the predetermined value or select a next higher of the plurality of voltages if the current temperature is below the predetermined value.
A method of performing an accelerated aging test for an integrated circuit chip, the method comprising:
- entering the integrated circuit chip to the accelerated aging test by a tester coupled to the integrated circuit chip, wherein the integrated circuit chip includes a temperature monitor circuit and a selector circuit;
- monitoring a temperature of the integrated circuit chip by using the temperature monitor circuit while executing the accelerated aging test to produce a control signal within the integrated circuit chip based on a comparison of the monitored temperature to a trigger point;
- and
- automatically selecting a voltage level from a plurality of voltage levels for an operating voltage based on the control signal by using the selector circuit to control the temperature of the integrated circuit chip based on the control signal while executing the accelerated aging test, the automatically selectin comprising iteratively selecting a next lower of the plurality of voltages if control signal is in a first state or iteratively selecting a next higher of the plurality of voltages if the control signal is in a second state.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.