Digital reliability monitor having autonomic repair and notification capability
First Claim
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1. An integrated circuit, comprising:
- a pulse generator connected to a cycle counter, said cycle counter connected to a repair processor, said repair processor connected to a repairable circuit element, said pulse generator configured to generate pulses only when said repairable circuit element is powered, said cycle counter configured to count cycles of said pulsed signal;
a memory circuit configured to store a cycle count of the number of cycles counted since an initial power up and said cycle counter configured to resume counting from said stored cycle count after a power down/power up cycle of said integrated circuit; and
said repair processor configured to automatically repair said repairable circuit element when said cycle counter reaches a pre-determined cycle count of pulses generated by said pulse generator.
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Abstract
An integrated circuit, including: a pulse generator adapted to generate a pulsed signal; a cycle counter adapted to count cycles of the pulsed signal; one or more repairable circuit elements; and a repair processor adapted to repair a repairable circuit element when the cycle counter reaches a pre-determined cycle count.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. An integrated circuit, comprising:
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a pulse generator connected to a cycle counter, said cycle counter connected to a repair processor, said repair processor connected to a repairable circuit element, said pulse generator configured to generate pulses only when said repairable circuit element is powered, said cycle counter configured to count cycles of said pulsed signal; a memory circuit configured to store a cycle count of the number of cycles counted since an initial power up and said cycle counter configured to resume counting from said stored cycle count after a power down/power up cycle of said integrated circuit; and said repair processor configured to automatically repair said repairable circuit element when said cycle counter reaches a pre-determined cycle count of pulses generated by said pulse generator. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method of repairing an integrated circuit, comprising:
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providing said integrated circuit, said integrated circuit comprising a pulse generator connected to a cycle counter, said cycle counter connected to a repair processor, said repair processor connected to a repairable circuit element; counting cycles of said pulsed signal in said cycle counter only when said repairable circuit element is powered; storing a cycle count of a number of cycles counted since an initial power up in said memory unit; resuming counting from said stored cycle count after a power down/power up cycle of said integrated circuit; and automatically repairing said repairable circuit element when said cycle counter reaches a pre-determined cycle count, said repairable circuit element operable at said pre-determined cycle count. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. An integrated circuit, comprising:
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a pulse generator connected to a cycle counter, said cycle counter connected to a repair processor, said repair processor connected to a repairable circuit, and a counter memory connected to said clock cycle counter; said cycle counter configured to count cycles of said pulsed signal during power up phases of power up/power down cycles and configured to store a cumulated count of cycle counted by said cycle counter during said power up phases in said counter memory; and said repair processor configured to automatically repair said repairable circuit element when said cycle counter reaches a pre-determined cycle count of pulses generated by said pulse generator. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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Specification