# US 9,519,015 B2 · Rise time and fall time measurement

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- Number: US 9,519,015 B2
- Document ID: US9519015B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 14/167,024
- Filed: 2014-01-29
- Published: 2015-07-30
- Granted: 2016-12-13
- Earliest claimed: 2014-01-29
- Assignees: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd.
- Applicants: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Limited
- Inventors: Yang Chung-Chieh; Chih-Chiang Chang; Chung-Ting Lu; Chung-Peng Hsieh
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US9519015B2

## CPC

- G01R 27/28: Measuring attenuation, gain, phase shift or derived characteristics of electric four pole networks, i.e. two-port networks; Measuring transient response (in line transmission systems H04B3/46)
- G01R 19/12: Measuring rate of change
- G01R 29/02: Measuring characteristics of individual pulses, e.g. deviation from pulse flatness, rise time or duration
- G01R 31/2882: {Testing timing characteristics}
- G01R 31/31725: {Timing aspects, e.g. clock distribution, skew, propagation delay (for tester hardware G01R31/31937)}
- G01R 31/00: Arrangements for testing electric properties; Arrangements for locating electric faults; Arrangements for electrical testing characterised by what is being tested not provided for elsewhere ({measuring superconductive properties G01R33/1238;} testing line transmission systems H04B3/46; testing or measuring semiconductors or solid state devices during manufacture {H10P74/00})
- G01R: MEASURING ELECTRIC VARIABLES; MEASURING MAGNETIC VARIABLES (indicating correct tuning of resonant circuits H03J3/12)

## Abstract

Among other things, one or more systems and techniques for transition time evaluation of a circuit are provided herein. In some embodiments, a comparator is configured to receive a circuit signal from the circuit. The circuit signal is evaluated by the comparator based upon one or more control voltages to create one or more voltage waveforms. In some embodiments, the one or more voltage waveforms have substantially similar slopes. A time converter, such as a time-to-current converter or a time-to-digital converter, is used to evaluate the one or more output waveforms to determine a transition time, such as a rise time or a fall time, of the circuit. In some embodiments, the one or more output waveforms are used to reconstruct a transition waveform representing a waveform of the circuit signal.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A timing measurement system for determining a transition time of a circuit, comprising:
a comparator configured to:
receive a circuit signal from a circuit;
evaluate the circuit signal based upon a first control voltage to create a first output waveform; and
evaluate the circuit signal based upon a second control voltage to create a second output waveform; and
a time converter component; and
a buffer component configured to:
receive the circuit signal from the circuit;
generate a reference waveform based upon the circuit signal; and
provide the reference waveform to the time converter component,
wherein:
the time converter component is configured to evaluate the first output waveform and the second output waveform using the reference waveform to determine a transition time of the circuit; and
wherein an input terminal of the buffer component and an input terminal of the comparator are coupled to the circuit at a common node.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The timing measurement system of claim 1, the circuit comprising at least one of a digital circuit, an analog circuit, or a mixed-signal circuit.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The timing measurement system of claim 1, the transition time comprising a rise time.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The timing measurement system of claim 1, the transition time comprising a fall time.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The timing measurement system of claim 1, the circuit operating based upon an input provided by a source external to the timing measurement system.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The timing measurement system of claim 1, the circuit comprised within an integrated circuit within which the timing measurement system is embedded.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The timing measurement system of claim 1, the time converter component comprising at least one of a time-to-current converter or a time-to-digital converter.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The timing measurement system of claim 1, the first output waveform having a first slope and the second output waveform having a second slope corresponding to the first slope.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The timing measurement system of claim 1, the comparator comprising:
a transistor comprising a gate, a source, and a drain, the gate operatively coupled to the common node to receive the circuit signal, the source operatively coupled to a voltage control input to receive at least one of the first control voltage or the second control voltage, and the drain operatively coupled to an inverter for outputting at least one of the first output waveform or the second output waveform to the time converter component.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The timing measurement system of claim 9, the comparator comprising:
a resistor coupled between the drain of the transistor and a second voltage source, wherein the drain, the resistor, and the inverter are coupled to a second common node.

### Claim 11

A time measurement system for determining a transition time of a circuit, comprising:
a comparator comprising a transistor having:
a gate coupled to a circuit, the circuit applying a circuit signal having a non-constant voltage to the gate;
a first source/drain terminal coupled to a voltage source configured to apply one or more control voltages for evaluation of the circuit signal; and
a second source/drain terminal operably coupled to a time converter component, wherein one or more output waveforms for transition time evaluation of the circuit are output from the second source/drain terminal to the time converter component, the one or more output waveforms based upon an evaluation of the circuit signal relative to the one or more control voltages; and
a buffer having an input terminal coupled to the gate of the transistor at a common node and an output terminal coupled to the time converter component.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The time measurement system of claim 11, the comparator comprising a resistor coupled between the second source/drain terminal and a second voltage source.

### Claim 13 (depends on 11)

The time measurement system of claim 11, the comparator comprising:
an inverter coupled between the second source/drain terminal and the time converter component, the one or more output waveforms applied to the inverter.

### Claim 14 (depends on 11)

The time measurement system of claim 11, the time converter component comprising at least one of a time-to-current converter or a time-to-digital converter.

### Claim 15 (depends on 11)

The time measurement system of claim 11, the comparator comprising:
a resistor coupled between the second source/drain terminal and a second voltage source; and
an inverter coupled between the second source/drain terminal and the time converter component, wherein the second source/drain terminal, the resistor, and the inverter are coupled to a second common node.

### Claim 16 (depends on 11)

The time measurement system of claim 11, the one or more output waveforms comprising a first output waveform and a second output waveform, the first output waveform having a first slope and the second output waveform having a second slope corresponding to the first slope.

### Claim 17

A method for reconstructing a transition waveform, comprising:
receiving, from a circuit, a circuit signal concurrently applied to a buffer and a comparator;
evaluating, at the comparator, the circuit signal based upon a first control voltage to create a first output waveform;
evaluating, at the comparator, the circuit signal based upon a second control voltage to create a second output waveform;
generating, at the buffer, a reference waveform based upon the circuit signal; and
reconstructing a transition waveform based upon the first output waveform, the second output waveform, and the reference waveform.

### Claim 18 (depends on 17)

The method of claim 17, comprising creating one or more additional output waveforms based upon the circuit signal and one or more additional control voltages, and the reconstructing comprising reconstructing the transition waveform based upon the one or more additional output waveforms.

### Claim 19 (depends on 17)

The method of claim 17, the first output waveform having a first slope and the second output waveform having a second slope corresponding to the first slope.

### Claim 20 (depends on 17)

The method of claim 17, comprising:
determining at least one of a rise time or a fall time for the circuit based upon the transition waveform.