US 6,603,324 B2 · Special contact points for accessing internal circuitry of an integrated circuit

Abstract

One embodiment of the present invention concerns an integrated circuit that includes bond pads and special contact pads or points. The bond pads are for interfacing the integrated circuit as a whole with an external circuit, and are to be bonded to a package or circuit board. The bond pads are disposed on the die in a predetermined alignment such as a peripheral, grid, or lead-on-center alignment. The special contact pads are used to provide external test patterns to internal circuits and/or to externally monitor results from testing the internal circuits. The special contact pads may be advantageously located on the integrated circuit with a high degree of positional freedom. For one embodiment, the special contact pads may be disposed on the die at a location that is not in the same alignment as the bond pads. The special contact pads may be smaller than the bond pads so as not to increase the die size due to the special contact pads. The special contact points may also be used to externally program internal circuits (e.g., nonvolatile circuits) at the die or package level. The special contact points may also be used to select redundant circuits for faulty circuits.

Claims20

Dependent claims

A socket for releasably connecting a first electronic component to a second electronic component, comprising:

a first plurality of resilient contact structures extending from a surface of a support substrate, the first plurality of resilient contact structures configured to make electrical connections with a plurality of bond pads disposed in a first predetermined pattern on the first electronic component;
a second plurality of resilient contact structures extending from the surface of the support substrate, the second plurality of resilient contact structures configured to make electrical connections with a plurality of special contact pads disposed in a second predetermined pattern on the first electronic component, wherein said special contact pads are smaller than said bond pads;
and
a plurality of contact structures disposed on another surface of the support substrate for making electrical contact with said second electronic component, ones of the contact structures are connected to ones of the first plurality of resilient contact structures, and ones of the contact structures are connected to ones of the second plurality of resilient contact structures.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Special contact points for accessing internal circuitry of an integrated circuit

Life of this patent

Special contact points for accessing internal circuitry of an integrated circuit

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20