Compensation of degradation of performance of semiconductor devices by clock duty cycle adaptation
AssigneeAdvanced Micro Devices, Inc.
InventorsVassilios Papageorgiou, Maciej Wiatr, Jan Hoentschel
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Abstract
The device degradation of integrated circuits may be compensated for by appropriately adapting the duty cycle of the clock signal. For this purpose, a correlation between the duty cycle and the overall performance characteristics of the integrated circuit may be established and may be used during the normal field operation of the device in order to modify the duty cycle. Hence, an efficient control strategy may be implemented since the duty cycle may be efficiently controlled, while at the same time a change of clock signal frequency and/or an increase of supply voltage may not be required.
Claims25
A method of stabilizing performance of an integrated circuit device, the method comprising:
- determining an updated value of a parameter indicating performance of said integrated circuit;
- and
- controlling a duty cycle of a clock signal of said integrated circuit device on the basis of said updated value so as to stay within a specified range.
A method of operating an integrated circuit, the method comprising:
- establishing a correlation between a performance characteristic of the integrated circuit and a duty cycle of a clock signal used in said integrated circuit;
- and
- controlling said duty cycle during operation of said integrated circuit at least several times within an operational lifetime of said integrated circuit on the basis of said correlation.
An electronic circuit system, comprising:
- an integrated circuit comprising an internal clock signal generator and a functional circuit portion connected to receive a clock signal of said clock signal generator;
- and
- a duty cycle control unit operatively connected to said clock signal generator and configured to initiate a change of a duty cycle of said clock signal several times during an operational lifetime of said integrated circuit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.