Memory hub tester interface and method for use thereof

• US 20050283681A1
• Filed: 06/04/2004
• Published: 12/22/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 06/04/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Micron Technology, Inc.
• Inventors: Jeddeloh, Joseph M.
• Granted Patent: US 7,310,748 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 714/42
• CPC Class Codes: G11C 29/08 Functional testing, e.g. testing during refresh, power-on self testing [POST] or distributed testing
• CPC Class Codes: G11C 5/04 Supports for storage elements , e.g. memory modules; Mounting or fixing of storage elements on such supports

Abstract

A memory hub including a memory test bridge circuit for testing memory devices. Test command packets are coupled from a tester to the memory hub responsive to a test clock signal having a test clock frequency. The test bridge circuit generates memory device command, address, and data signals in accordance with the test command packets, and the memory device command, address, and data signals are provided to a memory device under test that is coupled to the memory hub responsive to a memory device clock signal having a memory device clock frequency.

Claims

1. A memory hub, comprising:

a test command interface for coupling to a test bus and through which test command packets are received, the test command interface configured to latch the test command packets in response to a test clock signal having a test clock frequency;

a memory device interface for coupling memory device command, address and data signals to a memory device, the memory device interface configured to provide the memory device command, address and data signals to the memory device in response to a memory device clock signal having a memory device clock frequency;

a test command latch coupled to the test command interface and the memory device interface to latch a memory device command of a received test command packet and provide memory device command signals to the memory device in accordance with the memory device command to test the memory device;

a test address generator coupled to the test command interface and the memory device interface to generate the memory device address signals for the memory device in accordance with the received test command packet;

a test data generator coupled to the test command interface and the memory device interface to generate the memory device data signal for the memory device in accordance with the received test command packet; and

an error detect circuit coupled to the test bus and configured to compare expected data corresponding to the memory device data signal and data read from the memory device and further configured to provide a signal indicative of the results from the comparison over the test bus.

2. The memory hub of claim 1 wherein the test command packet comprises test command, test address, and test data signals, the test address signals representative of a memory device address and the test data signals representative of memory device data.

3. The memory hub of claim 1 wherein the test command packet comprises test command and test address ALU opcode signals, the test address ALU opcode signals representative of at least one of arithmetic and logic operations performed to generate memory device address signals.

4. The memory hub of claim 1 wherein the test command packet comprises test command and test data ALU opcode signals, the test data ALU opcode signals representative of at least one of arithmetic and logic operations performed to generate memory device data signals.

5. The memory hub of claim 1, further comprising a capture buffer coupled to the test bus and the memory device, the capture buffer configured to capture data read from the memory device and provide the same over the test bus when requested.

6. The memory hub of claim 1 wherein the test command interface is coupled to the test bus having a plurality of uplinks on which a plurality of test command packets are received by the test command interface concurrently.

7. The memory hub of claim 6 wherein the test command interface includes a multiplexer coupled to the plurality of uplinks to multiplex between the plurality of uplinks in providing the memory device command, address, and data signals to the memory device.

8. The memory hub of claim 1 wherein the test address generator comprises:

a test address latch to latch test address information;

a test address arithmetic and logic unit (ALU) opcode latch to latch a test address ALU opcode included with the test command packet; and

a test address ALU coupled to the test address latch and the test address ALU opcode latch for performing at least one of arithmetic and logic operations on the test address information in accordance with the test address opcode.

9. The memory hub of claim 1 wherein the test data generator comprises:

a test data latch to latch test data information;

a test data arithmetic and logic unit (ALU) opcode latch to latch a test data ALU opcode included with the test command packet; and

a test data ALU coupled to the test data latch and the test data ALU opcode latch for performing at least one of arithmetic and logic operations on the test data information in accordance with the test data opcode.

10. The memory hub of claim 1 wherein the memory device interface comprises a memory device command latch, a memory device address latch and a memory device data latch for latching the memory device command, address, and data signals.

11. The memory hub of claim 1 wherein the test clock frequency is less than the memory device clock frequency.

12. A memory hub, comprising:

a test circuit having a test command packet latch to latch test command packets including test command information, the test circuit latching the test command packets responsive to a test clock signal having a test clock frequency, the test interface circuit further having a test command circuit coupled to the test command packet latch to generate memory device command, address and data signals for testing a memory device in accordance with the test command information;

a memory device interface circuit coupled to the test circuit to couple the memory device command, address and data signals to a memory device under test, the memory device interface configured to provide the memory device command, address and data signals to the memory device under test responsive to a memory device clock signal having a memory device clock frequency; and

an error detect circuit coupled to the memory device interface circuit and the test circuit to compare expected data corresponding to the memory device data signal and data read from the memory device under test, the error detect circuit configured to provide a signal indicative of the results from the comparison for access through the test circuit.

13. The memory hub of claim 12 wherein the test command packet comprises test command, test address, and test data signals, the test address signals representative of a memory device address and the test data signals representative of memory device data.

14. The memory hub of claim 12 wherein the test command packet comprises test command and test address ALU opcode signals, the test address ALU opcode signals representative of at least one of arithmetic and logic operations performed to generate memory device address signals.

15. The memory hub of claim 12 wherein the test command packet comprises test command and test data ALU opcode signals, the test data ALU opcode signals representative of at least one of arithmetic and logic operations performed to generate memory device data signals.

16. The memory hub of claim 12, further comprising a capture buffer coupled to the test circuit and the memory device interface, the capture buffer configured to capture data read from the memory device under test and provide the same through the test circuit when requested.

17. The memory hub of claim 12 wherein the test circuit is coupled to a plurality of uplinks on which a plurality of test command packets are received by the test circuit concurrently.

18. The memory hub of claim 17 wherein the test circuit includes a multiplexer coupled to the plurality of uplinks to multiplex between the plurality of uplinks in providing the memory device command, address, and data signals to the memory device.

19. The memory hub of claim 12 wherein the test circuit includes a test address generator comprising:

a test address latch to latch test address information;

a test address arithmetic and logic unit (ALU) opcode latch to latch a test address ALU opcode included with the test command packet; and

a test address ALU coupled to the test address latch and the test address ALU opcode latch for performing at least one of arithmetic and logic operations on the test address information in accordance with the test address opcode.

20. The memory hub of claim 12 wherein the test circuit includes a test data generator comprising:

a test data latch to latch test data information;

a test data arithmetic and logic unit (ALU) opcode latch to latch a test data ALU opcode included with the test command packet; and

a test data ALU coupled to the test data latch and the test data ALU opcode latch for performing at least one of arithmetic and logic operations on the test data information in accordance with the test data opcode.

21. The memory hub of claim 12 wherein the memory device interface comprises a memory device command latch, a memory device address latch and a memory device data latch for latching the memory device command, address, and data signals.

22. The memory hub of claim 12 wherein the test clock frequency is less than the memory device clock frequency.

23. A memory hub, comprising:

a memory test bridge circuit having a tester interface through which test command packets are received responsive to a test clock signal and further having a memory interface coupled to the tester interface through which memory commands corresponding to a test command packet are provided to at least one memory device responsive to a memory clock signal; and

an error detect circuit coupled to the memory test bridge circuit for comparing expected data received by the memory test bridge circuit to read data returned from the memory device in response to a memory command, the error detect circuit operable to generate in response to the comparison pass/fail data indicative of whether the read data matches the expected data.

24. The memory hub of claim 23 wherein the test command packet comprises test command, test address, and test data signals, the test address signals representative of a memory device address and the test data signals representative of memory device data.

25. The memory hub of claim 23 wherein the test command packet comprises test command and test address ALU opcode signals, the test address ALU opcode signals representative of at least one of arithmetic and logic operations performed to generate memory device address signals.

26. The memory hub of claim 23 wherein the test command packet comprises test command and test data ALU opcode signals, the test data ALU opcode signals representative of at least one of arithmetic and logic operations performed to generate memory device data signals.

27. The memory hub of claim 23, further comprising a capture buffer coupled to the memory test bridge circuit, the capture buffer configured to capture data read from the memory device and provide the same when requested.

28. The memory hub of claim 23 wherein the memory test bridge circuit is coupled to a plurality of uplinks on which a plurality of test command packets are received by the memory test bridge concurrently.

29. The memory hub of claim 28 wherein the memory test bridge circuit includes a multiplexer coupled to the plurality of uplinks to multiplex between the plurality of uplinks in providing the memory device command, address, and data signals to the memory device.

30. The memory hub of claim 23 wherein the memory test bridge circuit includes a test address generator comprising:

a test address latch to latch test address information;

a test address arithmetic and logic unit (ALU) opcode latch to latch a test address ALU opcode included with the test command packet; and

a test address ALU coupled to the test address latch and the test address ALU opcode latch for performing at least one of arithmetic and logic operations on the test address information in accordance with the test address opcode.

31. The memory hub of claim 23 wherein the memory test bridge circuit includes a test data generator comprising:

a test data latch to latch test data information;

a test data arithmetic and logic unit (ALU) opcode latch to latch a test data ALU opcode included with the test command packet; and

a test data ALU coupled to the test data latch and the test data ALU opcode latch for performing at least one of arithmetic and logic operations on the test data information in accordance with the test data opcode.

32. The memory hub of claim 23 wherein the memory interface of the memory test bridge circuit comprises a memory device command latch, a memory device address latch and a memory device data latch for latching the memory device command, address, and data signals.

33. The memory hub of claim 23 wherein the test clock signal has a test clock frequency that is less than a memory device clock signal of the memory device clock frequency.

34. A memory module, comprising:

a plurality of memory devices;

a memory device bus coupled to the memory devices; and

a memory hub coupled to the memory device bus, the memory hub comprising;

a test circuit having a test command packet latch to latch test command packets including test command information, the test circuit latching the test command packets responsive to a test clock signal having a test clock frequency, the test interface circuit further having a test command circuit coupled to the test command packet latch to generate memory device command, address and data signals for testing a memory device in accordance with the test command information;

a memory device interface circuit coupled to the test circuit to couple the memory device command, address and data signals to a memory device under test, the memory device interface configured to provide the memory device command, address and data signals to the memory device under test responsive to a memory device clock signal having a memory device clock frequency; and

an error detect circuit coupled to the memory device interface circuit and the test circuit to compare expected data corresponding to the memory device data signal and data read from the memory device under test, the error detect circuit configured to provide a signal indicative of the results from the comparison for access through the test circuit.

35. The memory module of claim 34 wherein the test command packet comprises test command, test address, and test data signals, the test address signals representative of a memory device address and the test data signals representative of memory device data.

36. The memory module of claim 34 wherein the test command packet comprises test command signals, test address ALU opcode signals representative of at least one of arithmetic and logic operations performed to generate memory device address signals, and test data ALU opcode signals representative of at least one of arithmetic and logic operations performed to generate memory device data signals.

37. The memory module of claim 34 wherein the memory hub further comprises a capture buffer coupled to the test circuit and the memory device interface, the capture buffer configured to capture data read from the memory device under test and provide the same through the test circuit when requested.

38. The memory module of claim 34 wherein the test circuit of the memory hub is coupled to a plurality of uplinks on which a plurality of test command packets are received by the test circuit concurrently.

39. The memory module of claim 38 wherein the test circuit of the memory hub includes a multiplexer coupled to the plurality of uplinks to multiplex between the plurality of uplinks in providing the memory device command, address, and data signals to the memory device.

40. The memory module of claim 34 wherein the test circuit of the memory hub includes a test address generator comprising:

a test address latch to latch test address information;

a test address arithmetic and logic unit (ALU) opcode latch to latch a test address ALU opcode included with the test command packet; and

a test address ALU coupled to the test address latch and the test address ALU opcode latch for performing at least one of arithmetic and logic operations on the test address information in accordance with the test address opcode.

41. The memory module of claim 34 wherein the test circuit of the memory hub includes a test data generator comprising:

a test data latch to latch test data information;

a test data arithmetic and logic unit (ALU) opcode latch to latch a test data ALU opcode included with the test command packet; and

a test data ALU coupled to the test data latch and the test data ALU opcode latch for performing at least one of arithmetic and logic operations on the test data information in accordance with the test data opcode.

42. The memory module of claim 34 wherein the memory device interface of the memory hub comprises a memory device command latch, a memory device address latch and a memory device data latch for latching the memory device command, address, and data signals.

43. The memory module of claim 34 wherein the test clock frequency is less than the memory device clock frequency.

44. A memory module, comprising:

a plurality of memory devices;

a memory device bus coupled to the memory devices; and

a memory hub coupled to the memory device bus, the memory hub comprising;

a memory test bridge circuit having a tester interface through which test command packets are received responsive to a test clock signal and further having a memory interface coupled to the tester interface through which memory commands corresponding to a test command packet are provided to at least one memory device responsive to a memory clock signal; and

an error detect circuit coupled to the memory test bridge circuit for comparing expected data received by the memory test bridge circuit to read data returned from the memory device in response to a memory command, the error detect circuit operable to generate in response to the comparison pass/fail data indicative of whether the read data matches the expected data.

45. The memory module of claim 44 wherein the test command packet comprises test command, test address, and test data signals, the test address signals representative of a memory device address and the test data signals representative of memory device data.

46. The memory module of claim 44 wherein the test command packet comprises test command signals, test address ALU opcode signals representative of at least one of arithmetic and logic operations performed to generate memory device address signals, and test data ALU opcode signals representative of at least one of arithmetic and logic operations performed to generate memory device data signals.

47. The memory module of claim 44 wherein the memory hub further comprises a capture buffer coupled to the memory test bridge circuit, the capture buffer configured to capture data read from the memory device and provide the same when requested.

48. The memory module of claim 44 wherein the memory test bridge circuit of the memory hub is coupled to a plurality of uplinks on which a plurality of test command packets are received by the memory test bridge concurrently.

49. The memory module of claim 48 wherein the memory test bridge circuit of the memory hub includes a multiplexer coupled to the plurality of uplinks to multiplex between the plurality of uplinks in providing the memory device command, address, and data signals to the memory device.

50. The memory module of claim 44 wherein the memory test bridge circuit of the memory hub includes a test address generator comprising:

a test address latch to latch test address information;

a test address arithmetic and logic unit (ALU) opcode latch to latch a test address ALU opcode included with the test command packet; and

a test address ALU coupled to the test address latch and the test address ALU opcode latch for performing at least one of arithmetic and logic operations on the test address information in accordance with the test address opcode.

51. The memory module of claim 44 wherein the memory test bridge circuit of the memory hub includes a test data generator comprising:

a test data latch to latch test data information;

a test data arithmetic and logic unit (ALU) opcode latch to latch a test data ALU opcode included with the test command packet; and

a test data ALU coupled to the test data latch and the test data ALU opcode latch for performing at least one of arithmetic and logic operations on the test data information in accordance with the test data opcode.

52. The memory module of claim 44 wherein the memory interface of the memory test bridge circuit comprises a memory device command latch, a memory device address latch and a memory device data latch for latching the memory device command, address, and data signals.

53. The memory module of claim 44 wherein the test clock signal has a test clock frequency that is less than a memory device clock signal of the memory device clock frequency.

54. A memory test apparatus, comprising:

a memory tester for providing memory test command packets to test memory devices;

a memory test bus coupled to the memory tester;

a memory module coupled to the memory test bus for testing, the memory module comprising;

a plurality of memory devices;

a memory device bus coupled to the memory devices; and

a memory hub coupled to the memory device bus, the memory hub comprising;

a test circuit having a test command packet latch to latch test command packets including test command information, the test circuit latching the test command packets responsive to a test clock signal having a test clock frequency, the test interface circuit further having a test command circuit coupled to the test command packet latch to generate memory device command, address and data signals for testing a memory device in accordance with the test command information;

a memory device interface circuit coupled to the test circuit to couple the memory device command, address and data signals to a memory device under test, the memory device interface configured to provide the memory device command, address and data signals to the memory device under test responsive to a memory device clock signal having a memory device clock frequency; and

an error detect circuit coupled to the memory device interface circuit and the test circuit to compare expected data corresponding to the memory device data signal and data read from the memory device under test, the error detect circuit configured to provide a signal indicative of the results from the comparison for access through the test circuit.

55. The memory test apparatus of claim 54 wherein the test command packet comprises test command, test address, and test data signals, the test address signals representative of a memory device address and the test data signals representative of memory device data.

56. The memory test apparatus of claim 54 wherein the test command packet comprises test command signals, test address ALU opcode signals representative of at least one of arithmetic and logic operations performed to generate memory device address signals, and test data ALU opcode signals representative of at least one of arithmetic and logic operations performed to generate memory device data signals.

57. The memory test apparatus of claim 54 wherein the memory hub further comprises a capture buffer coupled to the test circuit and the memory device interface, the capture buffer configured to capture data read from the memory device under test and provide the same through the test circuit when requested.

58. The memory test apparatus of claim 54 wherein the test circuit of the memory hub is coupled to a plurality of uplinks on which a plurality of test command packets are received by the test circuit concurrently.

59. The memory test apparatus of claim 58 wherein the test circuit of the memory hub includes a multiplexer coupled to the plurality of uplinks to multiplex between the plurality of uplinks in providing the memory device command, address, and data signals to the memory device.

60. The memory test apparatus of claim 54 wherein the test circuit of the memory hub includes a test address generator comprising:

a test address latch to latch test address information;

a test address arithmetic and logic unit (ALU) opcode latch to latch a test address ALU opcode included with the test command packet; and

a test address ALU coupled to the test address latch and the test address ALU opcode latch for performing at least one of arithmetic and logic operations on the test address information in accordance with the test address opcode.

61. The memory test apparatus of claim 54 wherein the test circuit of the memory hub includes a test data generator comprising:

a test data latch to latch test data information;

a test data arithmetic and logic unit (ALU) opcode latch to latch a test data ALU opcode included with the test command packet; and

a test data ALU coupled to the test data latch and the test data ALU opcode latch for performing at least one of arithmetic and logic operations on the test data information in accordance with the test data opcode.

62. The memory test apparatus of claim 54 wherein the memory device interface of the memory hub comprises a memory device command latch, a memory device address latch and a memory device data latch for latching the memory device command, address, and data signals.

63. The memory test apparatus of claim 54 wherein the test clock frequency is less than the memory device clock frequency.

64. A memory test apparatus, comprising:

a memory tester for providing memory test command packets to test memory devices;

a memory test bus coupled to the memory tester;

a memory module coupled to the memory test bus for testing, the memory module comprising;

a plurality of memory devices;

a memory device bus coupled to the memory devices; and

a memory hub coupled to the memory device bus, the memory hub comprising;

a plurality of memory devices;

a memory device bus coupled to the memory devices; and

a memory hub coupled to the memory device bus, the memory hub comprising;

a memory test bridge circuit having a tester interface through which test command packets are received responsive to a test clock signal and further having a memory interface coupled to the tester interface through which memory commands corresponding to a test command packet are provided to at least one memory device responsive to a memory clock signal; and

an error detect circuit coupled to the memory test bridge circuit for comparing expected data received by the memory test bridge circuit to read data returned from the memory device in response to a memory command, the error detect circuit operable to generate in response to the comparison pass/fail data indicative of whether the read data matches the expected data.

65. The memory test apparatus of claim 64 wherein the test command packet comprises test command, test address, and test data signals, the test address signals representative of a memory device address and the test data signals representative of memory device data.

66. The memory test apparatus of claim 64 wherein the test command packet comprises test command, test address ALU opcode signals representative of at least one of arithmetic and logic operations performed to generate memory device address signals, and test data ALU opcode signals representative of at least one of arithmetic and logic operations performed to generate memory device data signals.

67. The memory test apparatus of claim 64 wherein the memory hub further comprises a capture buffer coupled to the test circuit and the memory device interface, the capture buffer configured to capture data read from the memory device under test and provide the same through the test circuit when requested.

68. The memory test apparatus of claim 64 wherein the test circuit of the memory hub is coupled to a plurality of uplinks on which a plurality of test command packets are received by the test circuit concurrently.

69. The memory test apparatus of claim 68 wherein the test circuit of the memory hub includes a multiplexer coupled to the plurality of uplinks to multiplex between the plurality of uplinks in providing the memory device command, address, and data signals to the memory device.

70. The memory test apparatus of claim 64 wherein the test circuit of the memory hub includes a test address generator comprising:

a test address latch to latch test address information;

a test address arithmetic and logic unit (ALU) opcode latch to latch a test address ALU opcode included with the test command packet; and

a test address ALU coupled to the test address latch and the test address ALU opcode latch for performing at least one of arithmetic and logic operations on the test address information in accordance with the test address opcode.

71. The memory test apparatus of claim 64 wherein the test circuit of the memory hub includes a test data generator comprising:

a test data latch to latch test data information;

a test data arithmetic and logic unit (ALU) opcode latch to latch a test data ALU opcode included with the test command packet; and

a test data ALU coupled to the test data latch and the test data ALU opcode latch for performing at least one of arithmetic and logic operations on the test data information in accordance with the test data opcode.

72. The memory test apparatus of claim 64 wherein the memory device interface of the memory hub comprises a memory device command latch, a memory device address latch and a memory device data latch for latching the memory device command, address, and data signals.

73. The memory test apparatus of claim 64 wherein the test clock frequency is less than the memory device clock frequency.

74. A method for testing a memory device, comprising:

coupling test command packets from a tester to a memory hub responsive to a test clock signal having a test clock frequency;

generating in the memory hub memory device command, address, and data signals in accordance with the test command packets; and

coupling the memory device command, address, and data signals from the memory hub to a memory device under test responsive to a memory device clock signal having a memory device clock frequency.

75. The method of claim 74 wherein coupling test command packets from the tester to the memory hub comprises coupling test command, test address, and test data signals to the memory hub, the test address signals representative of a memory device address and the test data signals representative of memory device data.

76. The method of claim 74 wherein coupling test command packets from the tester to the memory hub comprises coupling test command signals, test address ALU opcode signals representative of at least one of arithmetic and logic operations performed to generate memory device address signals, and test data ALU opcode signals representative of at least one of arithmetic and logic operations performed to generate memory device data signals.

77. The method of claim 74, further comprising comparing read data from the memory device with expected data and generating a pass/fail signal indicative of the result of the comparison.

78. The method of claim 77, further comprising latching the read data from the memory device and providing the same for evaluation of the read data.

79. The method of claim 74 coupling test command packets from the tester to the memory hub comprises coupling a plurality of test command packets to the memory hub in parallel.

80. The method of claim 79 wherein generating memory device command, address, and data signals in accordance with the test command packets comprises selecting from the plurality of test command packets and generating memory device command, address, and data signals in accordance with the selected test command packet at a rate faster than the rate at which new test command packets are coupled to the memory hub in parallel.

81. The method of claim 74 wherein generating memory device address signals comprises performing at least one of arithmetic and logic operations in accordance with test address ALU opcodes included in the test command packets and wherein generating memory device data signals comprises performing at least one of arithmetic and logic operations in accordance with test data ALU opcodes included in the test command packets.

82. The method of claim 74 wherein the test clock frequency is less than the memory device clock frequency.

83. A method for testing a memory device, comprising:

providing test command packets to a memory hub in parallel for testing a memory device under test; and

for each command packet provided to the memory hub in parallel, generating in the memory hub memory device command, address, and data signals in accordance with the selected test command packet and providing the memory device command, address, and data signals to the memory device under test at a rate faster than which the test command packets are provided to the memory hub in parallel.

84. The method of claim 83 wherein providing test command packets from the tester to the memory hub comprises coupling test command, test address, and test data signals to the memory hub, the test address signals representative of a memory device address and the test data signals representative of memory device data.

85. The method of claim 83 wherein providing test command packets from the tester to the memory hub comprises coupling test command signals, test address ALU opcode signals representative of at least one of arithmetic and logic operations performed to generate memory device address signals, and test data ALU opcode signals representative of at least one of arithmetic and logic operations performed to generate memory device data signals.

86. The method of claim 83, further comprising comparing read data from the memory device with expected data and generating a pass/fail signal indicative of the result of the comparison.

87. The method of claim 86, further comprising latching the read data from the memory device and providing the same for evaluation of the read data.

88. The method of claim 83 wherein generating memory device address signals comprises performing at least one of arithmetic and logic operations in accordance with test address ALU opcodes included in the test command packets and wherein generating memory device data signals comprises performing at least one of arithmetic and logic operations in accordance with test data ALU opcodes included in the test command packets.