Apparatus employing predictive failure analysis based on in-circuit FET on-resistance characteristics
First Claim
1. Apparatus comprising:
- a processor having access to a non-volatile memory;
a semiconductor having a measurable on-resistance while sourcing/sinking current to/from components of the apparatus; and
a sensor which is coupled to said processor and said semiconductor and which measures the on-resistance of said semiconductor during normal operations of the apparatus;
wherein, the processor is effective to;
monitor the on-resistance of said semiconductor over a predetermined portion of the life of the semiconductor;
predict that the semiconductor is likely to fail based on the monitoring; and
report a predictive failure to the apparatus based on the prediction, wherein the prediction is made by comparing a recent on-resistance value to a stored on-resistance value and determining that the recent on-resistance value exceeds an allowable deviation from the stored on-resistance value which is stored in the non-volatile memory, wherein the recent, and stored, on-resistance values are produced by the monitoring.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A computing system includes a semiconductor which sources/sinks current to/from components within the system, an in-circuit semiconductor on-resistance characterization circuit which measures the on-resistance of the semiconductor, and a processor which periodically or continuously engages the characterization circuit over the life of the semiconductor to obtain a series of on-resistance measurements. Depending on the type of semiconductor used, or depending on arbitrary design limitations, the computing system predicts semiconductor failure based on either a relative mode or an absolute mode. The relative mode is useful when using FET'"'"'s since on-resistance values vary significantly. In the relative mode, an optional NVRAM is used to store one or more on-resistance measurements which may serve as a reference for assuring proper circuit operation within tolerable deviations from the reference. In the absolute mode, one or more optional thresholds are utilized to assure that circuit operation remains in a known good region.
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Citations
17 Claims
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1. Apparatus comprising:
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a processor having access to a non-volatile memory; a semiconductor having a measurable on-resistance while sourcing/sinking current to/from components of the apparatus; and a sensor which is coupled to said processor and said semiconductor and which measures the on-resistance of said semiconductor during normal operations of the apparatus; wherein, the processor is effective to; monitor the on-resistance of said semiconductor over a predetermined portion of the life of the semiconductor; predict that the semiconductor is likely to fail based on the monitoring; and report a predictive failure to the apparatus based on the prediction, wherein the prediction is made by comparing a recent on-resistance value to a stored on-resistance value and determining that the recent on-resistance value exceeds an allowable deviation from the stored on-resistance value which is stored in the non-volatile memory, wherein the recent, and stored, on-resistance values are produced by the monitoring. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method comprising:
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monitoring the on-resistance of a semiconductor over a predetermined portion of the life of the semiconductor, wherein the semiconductor is a semiconductor which sources/sinks current to/from components of an apparatus and wherein the on-resistance is measured in-circuit during normal operations of the apparatus; predicting that the semiconductor is likely to fail based on said monitoring; and reporting a predictive failure to a user based on said prediction, wherein said prediction is made by comparing a recent on-resistance value to a stored on-resistance value and determining that the recent on-resistance value exceeds an allowable deviation from the stored on-resistance value, wherein the recent, and stored, on-resistance values are produced by said monitoring. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification