Reduced terminal testing system
First Claim
1. A semiconductor wafer comprising:
- a substrate;
a plurality of dice located on the substrate, the plurality of dice including circuitry for placing an individual die of the plurality of dice into a mode upon receipt of an alternating signal having a predetermined characteristic by the circuitry; and
a conductive path connected to the circuitry providing the alternating signal to the circuitry.
6 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A semiconductor wafer having dice that include circuitry that is placed into a mode when the circuitry receives an alternating signal having certain characteristics. The alternating signal may be supplied from a system controller through a probe, probe pad, and conductive path on the wafer. In a preferred embodiment, the conductive path simultaneously carries a VCC power signal and the alternating signal to the circuitry. However, the alternating signal may be carried on a conductive path different from the one carrying the VCC signal. A great deal of information may be conveyed through the alternating signal, making other signals unnecessary in controlling, testing, stressing, and repairing dice on the wafer. For example, clocking information may be conveyed through the alternating signal. The circuitry may be placed in different modes in response to different characteristics of the alternating signal. The alternating signal and a VCC power signal are received through a single contact on each die. A wafer mode controlling system includes a system controller to control application of the alternating signals and other signals to the dice on the wafer. The semiconductor wafer mode controlling system may also control a probe positioning controller including an array of probes that selectively brings the probes into contact with the probe pads, whereby the alternating signal having the certain characteristics is transmitted from the probe to the circuitry through the probe pad and conductive path and the circuitry of each of the dice is placed into the mode.
70 Citations
36 Claims
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1. A semiconductor wafer comprising:
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a substrate; a plurality of dice located on the substrate, the plurality of dice including circuitry for placing an individual die of the plurality of dice into a mode upon receipt of an alternating signal having a predetermined characteristic by the circuitry; and a conductive path connected to the circuitry providing the alternating signal to the circuitry. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. An electronic device, comprising:
processing circuitry and memory circuitry, at least one of the processing and memory circuitry including; a substrate; and a die located on the substrate, the die including circuitry for placing the die into a mode upon receipt of an alternating signal having a predetermined characteristic by the circuitry. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A semiconductor wafer comprising:
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a substrate; a plurality of dice located on the substrate, the plurality of dice each responding to a particular identification code and each including circuitry for placing individual die of the plurality of dice into a mode upon receipt of an alternating signal having the particular identification code; and a conductive path connected to the circuitry providing the alternating signal to the circuitry.
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25. A semiconductor wafer comprising:
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a substrate; a conductive path associated with the substrate for carrying an alternating signal and another signal at the same time; and a plurality of dice fabricated on the substrate, with at least one of the dice including; an external terminal coupled to the conductive path for receiving the alternating signal and the other signal at the same time; and internal circuitry coupled to the external terminal for outputting an internal die signal substantially responsive to the alternating signal and at most insubstantially responsive to the other signal. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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Specification