Digital reliability monitor having autonomic repair and notification capability
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An integrated circuit, comprising:
- an original circuit;
one or more redundant circuits; and
a repair processor, including a clock cycle counter adapted to count pulses of a pulsed signal, said repair processor adapted to (a) replace said original circuit with a first redundant circuit or (b) adapted to select another redundant circuit, the selection in sequence from a second redundant circuit to a last redundant circuit, and to replace a previously selected redundant circuit with said selected redundant circuit each time said cycle counter reaches a predetermined count of a set of pre-determined cycle counts.
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Abstract
A method a circuit for preventing failure in an integrated circuit. The circuit including: an original circuit; one or more redundant circuits; and a repair processor, including a clock cycle counter adapted to count pulses of a pulsed signal, the repair processor adapted to (a) replace the original circuit with a first redundant circuit or (b) adapted to select another redundant circuit, the selection in sequence from a second redundant circuit to a last redundant circuit, and to replace a previously selected redundant circuit with the selected redundant circuit each time the cycle counter reaches a predetermined count of a set of predetermined cycle counts.
68 Citations
22 Claims
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1. An integrated circuit, comprising:
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an original circuit;
one or more redundant circuits; and
a repair processor, including a clock cycle counter adapted to count pulses of a pulsed signal, said repair processor adapted to (a) replace said original circuit with a first redundant circuit or (b) adapted to select another redundant circuit, the selection in sequence from a second redundant circuit to a last redundant circuit, and to replace a previously selected redundant circuit with said selected redundant circuit each time said cycle counter reaches a predetermined count of a set of pre-determined cycle counts. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of preventing failure in an integrated circuit, comprising:
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providing an original circuit;
providing one or more redundant circuits; and
providing a repair processor, including a clock cycle counter for counting pulses of a pulsed signal, said repair processor for (a) replacing said original circuit with a first redundant circuit or for (b) in sequence from a second redundant circuit to a last redundant circuit, selecting another redundant circuit and replacing a previously selected redundant circuit with said selected redundant circuit each time said clock cycle counter reaches a predetermined count of a set of pre-determined cycle counts. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. An integrated circuit, comprising:
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an original circuit; and
a stress reduction circuit coupled to said original circuit and coupled to and responsive to a repair processor, said repair processor including a clock cycle counter adapted to count pulses of a pulsed signal and said stress reduction circuit adapted to modify one or more operating parameters of said original circuit when said clock cycle counter reaches a particular predetermined cycle count. - View Dependent Claims (20)
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21. A method for preventing failure of an integrated circuit, comprising:
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providing an original circuit;
providing a repair processor, said repair processor including a clock cycle counter for counting pulses of a pulsed signal and providing a stress reduction circuit coupled to said original circuit and coupled to and responsive to said repair processor, said stress reduction circuit for modifying one or more operating parameters of said original circuit when said clock cycle counter reaches a particular pre-determined cycle count.
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22. The method of claim 22, wherein said stress reduction circuit is selected from the group consisting of voltage regulator circuits, switching circuits adapted to select a frequency of said pulsed signal, pulse generating circuits adapted to select said frequency of said pulsed signal, bias circuits adapted to select a bias voltage to apply to bodies of transistors in said original circuit, said one or more redundant circuits or both said original circuit and said one or more redundant circuits, and combinations thereof.
Specification