Smart scan options to improve wafer die yield
AssigneeTexas Instruments Incorporated
InventorsRakul Viswanath, Sachin Aithal, Gunvarun Sudan
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A circuit includes: channel signal chains; configuration registers including a configuration register for each of the channel signal chains; channel data registers including a channel data register for each of the channel signal chains; a first communication interface coupled to the configuration registers via a daisy-chain connection; a second communication interface coupled to the set of channel data registers via respective parallel connections; and routing interfaces including a routing interface for each of the channel signal chains, each of the routing interfaces having a routing data input, a daisy-chain connection input, a parallel connection input, first and second control inputs, and a routing data output.
Claims20
A circuit, comprising:
- channel signal chains;
- configuration registers including a configuration register for each of the channel signal chains;
- channel data registers including a channel data register for each of the channel signal chains;
- a first communication interface coupled to the configuration registers via a daisy-chain connection;
- a second communication interface coupled to the channel data registers via respective parallel connections;
- and
- routing interfaces including a routing interface for each of the channel signal chains, each of the routing interfaces having a routing data input, a daisy-chain connection input, a parallel connection input, first and second control inputs, and a routing data output.
A method comprising:
- obtaining test mode data related to a channel signal chain of an integrated circuit;
- routing the test mode data from a daisy-chain connection of the channel signal chain to a parallel connection in response to a test mode control signal;
- identifying the channel signal chain as good or bad based on the routed test mode data;
- and
- bypassing a scan test of the channel signal chain if the channel signal chain is identified as bad.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.