Quantifying silicon degradation in an integrated circuit

Abstract

A first instance and a second instance of an oscillating circuit are each formed as part of an integrated circuit and are used to monitor degradation over time of one or more portions of the integrated circuit. The first instance of the oscillating circuit is configured to be coupled to a power source during normal operation of the integrated circuit and the second instance is configured to be decoupled from the power source. Over the lifetime of the integrated circuit, the first instance undergoes degradation from use while the second instance of the oscillating circuit remains unpowered, therefore experiencing essentially no use-related degradation. During a testing operation, the second instance can be used as a reference circuit that accurately quantifies use-related degradation of the first instance of the oscillating circuit and, by extension, one or more portions of the integrated circuit.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.