RFID tag design with circuitry for wafer level testing
First Claim
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1. An apparatus, comprising:
- a semiconductor chip for an RFID tag comprising a receive signal path that flows from one or more primary inputs to a controller, said receive signal path to process an electrical receive signal originating from said inputs as a consequence of said inputs having received a signal from an antenna, a second signal path flowing into said receive signal path from a die edge of said semiconductor chip, said second signal path to transport an electrical test signal that emulates said receive signal while said semiconductor chip is being tested on wafer, said receive signal path flowing through both a first input of a multiplexer circuit and said multiplexer circuit'"'"'s output, said multiplexer circuit having a second input coupled to said second signal path.
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Abstract
Technologies suitable for on-wafer testing in the ubiquitous computing era are disclosed. Among the inventive features disclosed are: 1) clustering of wafer test probe landing area sites for parallel test sequencing; 2) on wafer test wiring that runs along the wafer'"'"'s scribe regions; 3) on-wafer test wiring that can be scribed and yet thwart the spread of contamination into the product die; 4) an RFID tag design that allows for on-wafer testing without imposing substantial semiconductor surface area penalty; 5) an RFID tag design that includes built-in self test (BIST) circuitry for the RFID tag'"'"'s non-volatile memory.
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Citations
45 Claims
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1. An apparatus, comprising:
a semiconductor chip for an RFID tag comprising a receive signal path that flows from one or more primary inputs to a controller, said receive signal path to process an electrical receive signal originating from said inputs as a consequence of said inputs having received a signal from an antenna, a second signal path flowing into said receive signal path from a die edge of said semiconductor chip, said second signal path to transport an electrical test signal that emulates said receive signal while said semiconductor chip is being tested on wafer, said receive signal path flowing through both a first input of a multiplexer circuit and said multiplexer circuit'"'"'s output, said multiplexer circuit having a second input coupled to said second signal path. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. An apparatus, comprising:
a semiconductor chip for an RFID tag comprising a receive signal path that flows from one or more primary inputs, said receive signal path to process an electrical receive signal originating from said inputs as a consequence of said inputs having received a signal from an antennae, said semiconductor chip further comprising a rectifier coupled to at least one of said inputs, a node where a supply voltage for said semiconductor chip is to appear residing downstream from an output of said rectifier, a diode'"'"'s cathode coupled to said node, said diode'"'"'s anode coupled to wiring that provides said semiconductor chip'"'"'s supply voltage while said semiconductor chip is being tested on wafer. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. An apparatus, comprising:
a semiconductor chip for an RFID tag comprising a receive signal path that flows from one or more primary inputs, said receive signal path to process an electrical receive signal originating from said inputs as a consequence of said inputs having received a signal from an antenna, said semiconductor chip also comprising a test signal path to transport a test signal while said semiconductor chip is being tested on wafer, said test signal path tracing from, or back to, an open circuit residing within the semiconductor substrate of said semiconductor chip, said open circuit caused by the scribing of said wafer. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. An apparatus, comprising:
a semiconductor chip for an RFID tag comprising a receive signal path from one or more primary inputs to a controller, said receive signal path to process an electrical receive signal originating from said inputs as a consequence of said inputs having received a signal from an antenna, said semiconductor chip also comprising a response signal path that flows from said controller through an impedance controller to said inputs, said response signal path to communicate to a system that sends a wireless signal to said antenna, a third signal path flowing from said response signal path to a die edge of said semiconductor chip, said third signal path to transport a response signal while said semiconductor chip is being tested on wafer. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. A method, comprising:
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applying a supply voltage to a semiconductor chip for an RFID tag that has not yet been diced from its wafer, said supply voltage applied to said semiconductor chip at a die edge of said semiconductor chip, a channel of a multiplexer of said semiconductor chip being enabled as a consequence of said applying; and
,propagating a test signal through said multiplexer channel as part of testing said semiconductor chip on wafer. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45)
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Specification