Integrated circuit provided with means for calibrating an electronic module and method for calibrating an electronic module of an integrated circuit
First Claim
1. An integrated circuit including at least one electronic module comprising:
- an input for introducing into the integrated circuit an external reference signal;
a calibrating means for calibrating the at least one electronic module, wherein said calibrating means includes means to calibrate in an autonomous maimer the at least one electronic module as a function of the external reference signal introduced into the integrated circuit via the input to obtain final calibrating parameters when an output signal of the electronic module is equal to the external reference signal;
a storage means for storing the final calibrating parameters, the stored calibrating parameters having an associated signature stored therewith; and
a signature detection means for detecting the associated signature presence in the storage means such that when a signal is applied to the input, the presence of said associated signature allows the stored calibrating parameters to be transmitted to the at least one electronic module.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The integrated circuit is provided with integrated calibrating circuit in order to calibrate at least one electronic module supplying at its output a reference voltage or a time base signal or a reference frequency signal. Said calibrating means are defined by a microcontroller which receives via an input pad of the integrated circuit an external reference signal which is compared to an internal reference signal of the reference module in order to be able to calibrate in an autonomous manner the integrated reference electronic module as a function of the external reference signal. The final calibrating parameters are permanently stored with an associated signature in a memory so that each time that voltage is subsequently applied to the circuit the final calibrating parameters are automatically applied to the corresponding reference module.
25 Citations
14 Claims
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1. An integrated circuit including at least one electronic module comprising:
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an input for introducing into the integrated circuit an external reference signal;
a calibrating means for calibrating the at least one electronic module, wherein said calibrating means includes means to calibrate in an autonomous maimer the at least one electronic module as a function of the external reference signal introduced into the integrated circuit via the input to obtain final calibrating parameters when an output signal of the electronic module is equal to the external reference signal;
a storage means for storing the final calibrating parameters, the stored calibrating parameters having an associated signature stored therewith; and
a signature detection means for detecting the associated signature presence in the storage means such that when a signal is applied to the input, the presence of said associated signature allows the stored calibrating parameters to be transmitted to the at least one electronic module. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
a comparing means for comparing the output signal of the at least one electronic module to the external reference signal, and to provide at its output a comparison signal;
a microprocessor for controlling the calibration of said at least one electronic module as a function of the comparison signal received from the comparing means;
a first storage having stored therein a calculating algorithm, the first storage being operatively connected to the microprocessor to allow it to calculate calibrating parameters as a function of the comparison signal using the calculating algorithm; and
a second storage connected to the microprocessor for storing the final calibrating parameters of said electronic module as well as the associated signature.
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3. The integrated circuit according to claim 2, wherein the at least one electronic module supplies at its output a reference voltage, and wherein the comparing means includes:
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a comparator having first and second inputs, the first input receives the reference voltage from the at least one electronic module to be calibrated, and the second input receives an external reference voltage.
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4. The integrated circuit according to claim 2, wherein the at least one electronic module is an oscillator supplying at its output a reference frequency signal, and
wherein the comparing means includes a counter having first and second inputs, the first input receives the reference frequency signal from the oscillator, and the second input receives an external reference frequency signal. -
5. The integrated circuit according to claim 2, wherein the first storage is a ROM memory, and
the second storage is an EEPROM memory, and the input includes a data register as an interface at the input of the at least one electronic module to receive the calibrating parameters. -
6. The integrated circuit according to claim 1, wherein the at least one electronic module includes:
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a first reference module supplying at its output a reference voltage; and
a second reference module supplying at its output a reference frequency signal, wherein said integrated circuit receives at a first input pad an external reference voltage for calibrating the first reference module, and at a second input pad an external reference frequency signal for calibrating the second reference module.
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7. The integrated circuit according to claim 1, wherein the external reference signal is an external time base signal.
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8. The integrated circuit according to claim 1, further including a plurality of integrated circuits being disposed on a wafer in groups of neighboring and similar circuits, the neighboring and similar integrated circuits being oriented differently so that the location of the input and output pads allow probes of a probe card of a test machine to be placed on the pads of a group of the neighboring and similar integrated circuits in order to test and calibrate all the circuits of the group at the same time.
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9. The integrated circuit according to claim 8, wherein the group of integrated circuits includes four neighboring integrated circuits, wherein the circuits are disposed on two parallel lines so as to form a substantially square group, each circuit being rotated with respect to its immediate neighbor by ±
- 90°
so that all the pads are located at the periphery of the group.
- 90°
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10. A method for calibrating in test phase at least one reference module of at least one integrated circuit, wherein the method includes the steps of:
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a) powering the integrated circuit via an external electric power source;
b) applying to an input pad of the integrated circuit an external reference signal;
c) autonomously calibrating the at least one reference module using calibrating parameters to obtain final calibration parameters when a reference output signal of the at least one reference module is equal to the external reference signal;
d) storing the final calibrating parameters and an associated signature associated with said final calibrating parameters in memory; and
e) detecting, when a voltage is applied to the integrated circuit, the presence of said associated signature stored in the memory and transmitting the stored calibrating parameters to said at least one reference module when the stored associated signature is detected. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
comparing the external reference signal with the output signal of the at least one reference module to obtained a compared signal;
calculating the calibrating parameters with a microprocessor as a function of the compared signal and a calculating algorithm, the calibrating parameters being applied to the reference module to modify the reference output signal, and repeating the preceding operations until the reference output signal of the at least one reference module is equal to the external reference signal.
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12. The calibrating method according to claim 10, further comprising step of autonomously calibrating each circuit of a plurality of integrated circuits on a same semiconductor substrate at the same time using a same external reference signal applied to the input pad of each circuit.
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13. The calibrating method according to claim 12, further comprises the step of placing probes of a multiple probe card of a test machine on the input and an output pads of each of multiple neighboring integrated circuits of the plurality of integrated circuits, so that all integrated circuits of the plurality of intended circuits are calibrated autonomously at the same time.
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14. The calibration method according to claim 10, wherein at least one reference module supplies at its output a reference voltage and the integrated circuit further includes a second reference module supplying at its output a reference frequency signal, wherein the method further comprises the step of receiving at a first input pad an external reference voltage for calibrating the at least one reference module and at a second input pad an external reference frequency signal for calibrating the second reference module.
Specification