# US 12,216,150 B2 · On-die aging measurements for dynamic timing modeling

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- Number: US 12,216,150 B2
- Document ID: US12216150B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 18/086,616
- Filed: 2022-12-21
- Published: 2023-04-27
- Granted: 2025-02-04
- Earliest claimed: 2018-12-25
- Assignees: Altera Corporation
- Applicants: Intel Corporation
- Inventors: Dheeraj Subbareddy; Ankireddy Nalamalpu; Mahesh A. Iyer; Dhananjay Raghavan
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US12216150B2

## CPC

- G01R 31/2642: {Testing semiconductor operation lifetime or reliability, e.g. by accelerated life tests}
- G01R 31/2856: {Internal circuit aspects, e.g. built-in test features; Test chips; Measuring material aspects, e.g. electro migration [EM]}
- G01R 31/2882: {Testing timing characteristics}
- G01R 31/3016: {Delay or race condition test, e.g. race hazard test}
- G01R 31/31707: {Test strategies (methods for generation of test sequences G01R31/318371)}
- G01R 31/31725: {Timing aspects, e.g. clock distribution, skew, propagation delay (for tester hardware G01R31/31937)}
- G01R 31/318516: {Test of programmable logic devices [PLDs]}
- G01R 31/31937: {Timing aspects, e.g. measuring propagation delay (G01R31/3191 and G01R31/31922 take precedence; marginal testing G06F11/24)}
- G01R: MEASURING ELECTRIC VARIABLES; MEASURING MAGNETIC VARIABLES (indicating correct tuning of resonant circuits H03J3/12)

## Abstract

A method includes mapping an aging measurement circuit (AMC) into the core fabric of an FPGA and operating the AMC for a select time period. During the select period of time, the AMC counts transition of a signal propagating through the AMC. Timing information based on the counted transitions is stored in a timing model in a memory. The timing information represents an aging characteristic of the core fabric at a time that the AMC is operated. An EDA toolchain uses the timing information in the timing model to generate a timing guard-band for the configurable IC die. The AMC is removed from the core fabric and another circuit device is mapped and fitted into the core fabric using the generated timing guard-band models. The circuit device is operated in the configurable IC die based on the timing guard-band models.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method comprising:
mapping an aging measurement circuit (AMC) into a configurable integrated circuit die, the AMC to count transitions of at least one signal propagating through the AMC during a select period of time as counted transitions;
accessing timing information based on the counted transitions;
generating a timing guard-band for the configurable integrated circuit die based on the timing information; and
mapping a circuit device into the configurable integrated circuit die based on the timing guard-band.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1 further comprising:
causing the configurable integrated circuit die to operate the circuit device using the timing guard-band.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the counted transitions are a measure of an aging characteristic of the configurable integrated circuit die.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the timing guard-band comprises at least one of a limit to a maximum operating frequency or a higher operating voltage of the configurable integrated circuit die.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the timing information represents an aging characteristic of wires or circuits in the configurable integrated circuit die.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1 further comprising:
causing removal of the AMC from the configurable integrated circuit die prior to mapping the circuit device into the configurable integrated circuit die.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein mapping the AMC into the configurable integrated circuit die further comprises mapping the AMC into the configurable integrated circuit die during a scheduled maintenance of a host.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1 further comprising:
removing an additional circuit device from the configurable integrated circuit die prior to mapping the circuit device into the configurable integrated circuit die.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the AMC comprises a ring oscillator.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the AMC comprises a counter.

### Claim 11 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the timing guard-band is in a plurality of timing guard-bands generated by an electronic design automation toolchain based on the timing information, and wherein the timing guard-bands are different for different portions of the configurable integrated circuit die that have different aging characteristics.

### Claim 12 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein mapping the circuit device into the configurable integrated circuit die further comprises mapping and fitting the circuit device into the configurable integrated circuit die based on the timing guard-band.

### Claim 13

A method comprising:
mapping an aging measurement circuit (AMC) into a configurable integrated circuit die that counts transitions of a signal through the AMC during a select period of time as counted transitions;
storing timing information that is based on the counted transitions in memory, wherein the timing information indicates an aging characteristic of the configurable integrated circuit die; and
mapping a circuit device into the configurable integrated circuit die using the timing information.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

The method of claim 13 further comprising:
generating a timing guard-band for the configurable integrated circuit die based on the timing information,
wherein mapping the circuit device into the configurable integrated circuit die using the timing information further comprises mapping the circuit device into the configurable integrated circuit die using the timing guard-band.

### Claim 15 (depends on 14)

The method of claim 14 further comprising:
causing operation of the circuit device based on the timing guard-band.

### Claim 16 (depends on 14)

The method of claim 14 further comprising:
fitting the circuit device into the configurable integrated circuit die using the timing guard-band.

### Claim 17 (depends on 13)

The method of claim 13 further comprising:
causing removal of an additional circuit device from the configurable integrated circuit die prior to mapping the circuit device into the configurable integrated circuit die.

### Claim 18

A method comprising:
mapping an aging measurement circuit (AMC) into a configurable integrated circuit die that counts transitions of a signal as the signal propagates through the AMC during a select period of time as counted transitions;
accessing timing information that is based on the counted transitions, wherein the timing information indicates an aging characteristic of the configurable integrated circuit die;
generating a timing guard-band for the configurable integrated circuit die based on the timing information; and
mapping a circuit device into the configurable integrated circuit die based on the timing guard-band.

### Claim 19 (depends on 18)

The method of claim 18, wherein the timing guard-band comprises at least one of a limit to a maximum operating frequency or a higher operating voltage of the configurable integrated circuit die.

### Claim 20 (depends on 18)

The method of claim 18 further comprising:
causing removal of the AMC from the configurable integrated circuit die prior to mapping the circuit device into the configurable integrated circuit die.