Qualifying of a detector of noise peaks in the supply of an integrated circuit
AssigneeSTMicroelectronics S.r.l.
InventorsAlexandre Malherbe, Benjamin Duval
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method and a system for qualifying an integrated circuit according to a parasitic supply peak detector that it contains, including: supply of the integrated circuit to be tested under at least a first voltage; checking of a starting of the circuit; application of at least one first noise peak on the circuit power supply, while respecting an amplitude and time gauge; and comparison of average currents consumed by the circuit before and after the peak.
Claims19
A method for qualifying a parasitic supply peak detector of an integrated circuit, comprising steps of:
- supplying the integrated circuit at the power input with a first voltage level;
- checking a starting of the integrated circuit;
- applying at least one first noise peak to the power supply input, wherein the amplitude of the at least one first noise peak is selected to maintain a minimum voltage of supply of differential stages of the integrated circuit;
- comparing average currents consumed by the integrated circuit before and after the application of the at least one first noise peak;
- and
- qualifying the integrated circuit as containing at least one of a limited number of types of parasitic peak detectors or not containing a parasitic peak detector based at least in part upon the comparing of the average currents.
A system for qualifying a parasitic supply peak detector of an integrated circuit, comprising:
- controllable means for supplying at least a first voltage level at at power supply of the integrated circuit;
- means for measuring electrical current consumption by the integrated circuit;
- controllable means configured to apply at least one noise peak to the power supply input, wherein the amplitude of the at least one noise peak is selected to maintain a minimum voltage of supply of differential stages of the integrated circuit;
- and
- a unit of control and synchronization configured to compare a first current consumption by the integrated circuit before application of the at least one noise peak with a second current consumption by the integrated circuit after application of the least one noise peak and qualify the integrated circuit as containing one of a limited number of types of parasitic peak detectors or not containing a parasitic peak detector based upon the comparison.
A method for determining a type of a parasitic supply peak detector of an integrated circuit, the method comprising:
- supplying a power supply of the integrated circuit with a voltage at a first level;
- measuring a first average current value of the integrated circuit;
- applying a first noise peak to the power supply, the first noise peak associated with a first and a second type of parasitic supply peak detectors, wherein the amplitude of the first noise peak is selected to maintain a minimum voltage of supply of differential stages of the integrated circuit;
- measuring a second average current value of the integrated circuit after applying the first noise peak;
- and
- comparing the first and second average currents of the integrated circuit to determine whether the integrated circuit includes the first or the second type of parasitic supply peak detectors.
A system for detecting a type of parasitic peak detector in an integrated circuit comprising a control unit configured to record a plurality of electrical current consumption responses of the integrated circuit to a plurality of different noise peaks applied to a power supply input of the integrated circuit powered at a first voltage supply level and to determine a type of parasitic peak detector contained in the integrated circuit based upon the plurality of electrical current consumption responses, wherein the amplitudes of the plurality of different noise peaks are selected to maintain a minimum voltage of supply of differential stages of the integrated circuit.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.