Process monitor for monitoring and compensating circuit performance
First Claim
1. A system for monitoring and compensating the performance of an operational circuit constructed on an integrated circuit chip, comprising:
- one or more operational circuits constructed on the integrated circuit chip, wherein each operational circuit has one or more controllable operational circuit parameters;
a process monitor module at least partially constructed on the integrated circuit chip, wherein the process monitor module generates at least one digitized sense signal indicative of one or more process-dependent integrated circuit parameters; and
a controller coupled to the process monitor module and each operational circuit, wherein the controller includes;
a monitoring processor that determines a value of one or more process-dependent integrated circuit parameters based on the at least one digitized sense signals, anda compensation processor that evaluates the performance of the one or more operational circuits based on the values of the one or more integrated circuit parameters, determines at least one adjustment to the one or more controllable operational circuit parameters, and generates a control signal to initiate the determined at least one adjustment.
7 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method and system for monitoring and compensating the performance of an operational circuit is provided. The system includes one or more integrated circuit chips and a controller. Each integrated circuit chip includes one or more operational circuits, each operational circuit having at least one controllable circuit parameter. Each integrated circuit chip also includes a process monitor module at least partially constructed thereon. The controller is coupled to each process monitor module and to each operational circuit. The controller includes logic for evaluating the performance of an operational circuit based on data obtained from process monitor module and operational circuit related data stored in a memory. Based on the evaluation, the controller determines whether any deviations from desired or optimal performance of the circuit exist. If deviations exist, the controller generates a control signal to initiate adjustments to the operational circuit to compensate for the deviations.
-
Citations
18 Claims
-
1. A system for monitoring and compensating the performance of an operational circuit constructed on an integrated circuit chip, comprising:
-
one or more operational circuits constructed on the integrated circuit chip, wherein each operational circuit has one or more controllable operational circuit parameters; a process monitor module at least partially constructed on the integrated circuit chip, wherein the process monitor module generates at least one digitized sense signal indicative of one or more process-dependent integrated circuit parameters; and a controller coupled to the process monitor module and each operational circuit, wherein the controller includes; a monitoring processor that determines a value of one or more process-dependent integrated circuit parameters based on the at least one digitized sense signals, and a compensation processor that evaluates the performance of the one or more operational circuits based on the values of the one or more integrated circuit parameters, determines at least one adjustment to the one or more controllable operational circuit parameters, and generates a control signal to initiate the determined at least one adjustment. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
-
-
7. A system for monitoring and compensating the performance a plurality of operational circuits, comprising:
-
a plurality of integrated circuit chips, wherein each integrated circuit chip includes at least one of the plurality of operational circuits; a plurality of process monitor modules, wherein each integrated circuit chip has a process monitor module at least partially constructed on the integrated circuit chip, wherein the process monitor module generates at least one digitized sense signal indicative of one or more process-dependent integrated circuit parameters; and a controller coupled to each of the plurality of process monitor modules and to each of the plurality of operational circuits wherein the controller includes; a monitoring processor for determining a value of one or more process-dependent integrated circuit parameters based on the at least one digitized sense signals, and a compensation processor wherein the compensation processor evaluates the performance of the operational circuit parameters based on the values of the one or more process-dependent integrated circuit parameters, determines at least one adjustment to one or more digitally controllable operational circuit parameters, and generates a control signal to initiate the determined at least one adjustment. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10)
-
-
11. A method of compensating the performance of an operational circuit constructed on an integrated circuit chip, comprising:
-
determining at least one data element required to perform compensation processing; requesting one or more sense signals from a process monitor module implemented on the integrated circuit chip, wherein each sense signal represents a corresponding process-dependent integrated circuit chip parameter; receiving at least one digitized sense signal from the process monitor module, each digitized sense signal representing a corresponding one of the requested sense signals; determining a value for the at least one data element using the at least one digitized sense signals; determining, based on the at least one data element, an adjustment to the operational circuit; generating a control signal indicative of the adjustment; and communicating the control signal to the operational circuit. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
-
Specification