Apparatuses and methods involving adjustable circuit-stress test conditions for stressing regional circuits

An apparatus comprising:

• an integrated circuit including a plurality of different types of regional circuits susceptible to time dependent dielectric breakdown (TDDB) respectively located in different regions of the integrated circuit, wherein said at least one of the plurality of different types of regional circuits is different from one another of the plurality of different types of regional circuits in terms of manifesting respectively different overstress levels;
• test circuitry to stress, the plurality of different types of regional circuits under different circuit-stress test conditions to enable levels of reliability failure associated with any of the plurality of different types of regional circuits to be detected in response;
• processing circuitry to determine and store a set of stress-test data based on each of the levels of reliability failure of the plurality of different types of regional circuits, the set of stress-test data being stored within the integrated circuit to indicate reliability-threshold test data specific to the integrated circuit;
• within the integrated circuit, an on-chip monitoring circuit to detect the levels of reliability failure associated with any of the plurality of different types regional circuits and to indicate operational conditions of suspect reliability of the plurality of different types of regional circuits based on the levels of reliability failure;
• and
• logic circuitry within the integrated circuit and configured and arranged to, during operation of said one or more of the plurality of different types of regional circuits in the integrated circuit, adjust at least one of the circuit-stress test conditions based on the indicated operational conditions of suspect reliability.