Wireless radio frequency technique design and method for testing of integrated circuits and wafers
First Claim
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1. Apparatus for testing an integrated circuit on a wafer, comprising:
- a) a test circuit formed on the wafer with the intergrated circuit, the test circuit comprising;
i) a ring oscillator circuit;
ii) a plurality of sub-circuits coupled to the ring oscillator circuit;
iii) a control circuit to selectively couple the sub-circuits to the ring oscillator circuit, and b) a test unit separate from the wafer, the test unit links to the test circuit to transmit a signal to activate the test circuit, wherein the test circuit when activated by the test unit conducts a separate test of the integrated circuit for each sub-circuit selected by the control circuit.
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Abstract
The present invention is for an apparatus and method for the wireless testing of Integrated Circuitis and wafers. The apparatus comprises a test unit external from the wafer and at least one test circuit which is fabricated on the wafer which contains the Integrated Circuit. The test unit transmits an RF signal to power the test circuit. The test circuit, comprising a variable ring oscillator, performs a series of parametric tests at the normal operating frequency of the Integrated Circuit and transmits the test results to the test unit for analysis.
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Citations
69 Claims
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1. Apparatus for testing an integrated circuit on a wafer, comprising:
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a) a test circuit formed on the wafer with the intergrated circuit, the test circuit comprising;
i) a ring oscillator circuit;
ii) a plurality of sub-circuits coupled to the ring oscillator circuit;
iii) a control circuit to selectively couple the sub-circuits to the ring oscillator circuit, and b) a test unit separate from the wafer, the test unit links to the test circuit to transmit a signal to activate the test circuit, wherein the test circuit when activated by the test unit conducts a separate test of the integrated circuit for each sub-circuit selected by the control circuit. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 42, 43)
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34. A test circuit for testing an integrated circuit on a wafer, the test circuit formed on the wafer with the integrated circuit, the test circuit comprising.
a) a ring oscillator circuit; -
b) a plurality of sub-circuits coupled to the ring oscillator circuit and c) a control circuit to selectively couple the sub-circuits to the ring oscillator circuit, wherein the test circuit conducts a separate test of the integrated circuit for each sub-circuit selected by the control circuit. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57)
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58. A Method of testing an integrated circuit on a wafer using test circuit formed on the wafer with the integrated circuit, the test circuit comprising a ring oscillator circuit, a plurality of sub-circuits coupled to the ring oscillator circuit wherein each sub-circuit changes the frequency of oscillator of the ring oscillator circuit, and a control circuit to selectively couple the sub-circuits to the ring oscillator circuit, the method comprising:
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(a) activating the test circuit, (b) sequentially coupling the sub-circuits to the ring oscillator circuit to selectively change the frequency of oscillation of the ring oscillator circuit;
(c) producing a test result signal in response to each sub-circuit selected by the control circuit; and
,(d) analyzing the test result signal to determine the frequency of oscillation. - View Dependent Claims (59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69)
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Specification