System for compensating for temperature induced delay variation in an integrated circuit
First Claim
1. A method for controlling a signal path delay in an integrated circuit wherein the signal path delay is influenced by a temperature of the integrated circuit and by a voltage of a power supply signal input to the integrated circuit, the method comprising the steps of:
- sensing a threshold voltage of a diode incorporated into said integrated circuit, wherein said threshold voltage is indicative of said temperature of said integrated circuit andcontrolling said power supply signal voltage such that said power supply signal voltage is a function of the sensed threshold voltage.
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Abstract
A delay compensation circuit responds to a sensed change in operating temperature of a CMOS integrated circuit (IC) by appropriately adjusting the IC'"'"'s power supply voltage so as to prevent the temperature change from affecting IC signal path delays. The delay compensation circuit senses the temperature change by monitoring a temperature sensitive voltage across a diode included in the IC and generates the power supply voltage as an appropriately adjusted linear function of the diode voltage.
32 Citations
12 Claims
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1. A method for controlling a signal path delay in an integrated circuit wherein the signal path delay is influenced by a temperature of the integrated circuit and by a voltage of a power supply signal input to the integrated circuit, the method comprising the steps of:
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sensing a threshold voltage of a diode incorporated into said integrated circuit, wherein said threshold voltage is indicative of said temperature of said integrated circuit and controlling said power supply signal voltage such that said power supply signal voltage is a function of the sensed threshold voltage. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. An apparatus for controlling a signal path delay in an integrated circuit wherein the signal path delay is influenced by a temperature of the integrated circuit and by a voltage of a power supply signal input to the integrated circuit, the apparatus comprising:
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a diode incorporated into said integrated circuit, said diode having a threshold voltage that varies with the temperature of said integrated circuit, and controller means for sensing said threshold voltage and for adjusting the power supply signal voltage such that the power supply signal voltage is a function of said threshold voltage. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. An apparatus for transmitting a test signal to a circuit device under test, the apparatus comprising:
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means for generating a timing signal; an integrated circuit receiving a power supply signal and including a signal path for receiving said timing signal and for generating said test signal in response to said timing signal following a signal path delay that is a function of a temperature of said integrated circuit and of a voltage of said power supply signal; a diode incorporated into said integrated circuit, said diode having a threshold voltage that varies with the temperature of said integrated circuit, and controller means for sensing said threshold voltage and for adjusting said power supply signal voltage such that the power supply signal voltage is a function of said threshold voltage. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12)
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Specification