Passive probing of various locations in a wireless enabled integrated circuit (IC)

• US 9,075,105 B2
• Filed: 09/29/2011
• Issued: 07/07/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/2011
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Avago Technologies International Sales Pte Limited (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Broadcom Corporation (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Castaneda, Jesus Alfonso, Behzad, Arya Reza, Rofougaran, Ahmadreza, Zhao, Sam Ziqun, Boers, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Vazquez, Arleen M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Alejnikov, Jr., Robert P
• Application Number:
  US13/248,779
• Publication Number:
  US 20130082730A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,377 Days
• Field of Search: 324/72, 324/527, 324/528, 324/555, 324/750.14, 324/762.01
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/2822 of microwave or radiofrequency circuits of attenuation, gain, e.g. using network analyzers G01R27/28
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/2831 Testing of materials or semi-finished products, e.g. semiconductor wafers or substrates G01R31/318511 takes precedence; testing during manufacture H01L22/00
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/2834 Automated test systems [ATE]; using microprocessors or computers G01R31/317 takes precedence; ATE for detection of defective computer hardware G06F11/2736
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/3025 Wireless interface with the DUT
• CPC Class Codes: G01R 31/303 of integrated circuits G01R31/305 - G01R31/315 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2224/16225 the item being non-metallic, e.g. insulating substrate with or without metallisation
• CPC Class Codes: H01L 2924/15311 being a ball array, e.g. BGA

Abstract

Methods and apparatus are disclosed for wirelessly communicating among integrated circuits and/or functional modules within the integrated circuits. A semiconductor device fabrication operation uses a predetermined sequence of photographic and/or chemical processing steps to form one or more functional modules onto a semiconductor substrate. The functional modules are coupled to an integrated waveguide that is formed onto the semiconductor substrate and/or attached thereto to form an integrated circuit. The functional modules communicate with each other as well as to other integrated circuits using a multiple access transmission scheme via the integrated waveguide. One or more integrated circuits may be coupled to an integrated circuit carrier to form Multichip Module. The Multichip Module may be coupled to a semiconductor package to form a packaged integrated circuit.

Claims

1. A wireless integrated circuit testing environment, comprising:

a coupling element configured to proximity couple to a second coupling element within an integrated circuit to passively observe a signal passing through the second coupling element, the integrated circuit being located within a semiconductor wafer; and

wireless automatic test equipment configured to determine a signal metric of the signal as observed by the coupling element and to compare the signal metric with a plurality of predetermined signal metrics to determine a location of the integrated circuit within the semiconductor wafer.

2. The wireless integrated circuit testing environment of claim 1, wherein the coupling element comprises:

a plurality of sub-coupling elements that are configured to provide diversity to the coupling element.

3. The wireless integrated circuit testing environment of claim 2, wherein at least two sub-coupling elements from among the plurality of sub-coupling elements are physically separated from each other to provide spatial diversity to the coupling element.

4. The wireless integrated circuit testing environment of claim 2, wherein at least two sub-coupling elements from among the plurality of sub-coupling elements are characterized as having different radiation patterns to provide pattern diversity to the coupling element.

5. The wireless integrated circuit testing environment of claim 2, wherein at least two sub-coupling elements from among the plurality of sub-coupling elements are characterized as having different polarizations to provide polarization diversity to the coupling element.

6. The wireless integrated circuit testing environment of claim 2, wherein the plurality of sub-coupling elements are configured and arranged to form a matrix.

7. The wireless integrated circuit testing environment of claim 2, wherein the plurality of sub-coupling elements are implemented using conductive traces.

8. The wireless integrated circuit testing environment of claim 1, wherein the coupling element is implemented using a conductive trace.

9. The wireless integrated circuit testing environment of claim 1, wherein the signal is selected from a group consisting of:

an analog signal, a digital signal, and a power signal.

10. The wireless integrated circuit testing environment of claim 1, wherein the integrated circuit is from among a plurality of integrated circuits that are formed on a semiconductor substrate.

11. The wireless integrated circuit testing environment of claim 10, wherein the plurality of integrated circuits are configurable to execute a self-contained testing operation.

12. The wireless integrated circuit testing environment of claim 11, wherein the integrated circuit is characterized as operating unexpectedly in response to execution of the self-contained testing operation.

13. The wireless integrated circuit testing environment of claim 10, wherein a first group of integrated circuits from among the plurality of integrated circuits is configured to be selectively activated by the wireless automatic test equipment,

wherein a second group of integrated circuits from among the plurality of integrated circuits is configured to be selectively deactivated by the wireless automatic test equipment, and

wherein the integrated circuit is from among the first group of integrated circuits.

14. The wireless integrated circuit testing environment of claim 1, wherein the coupling element and the second coupling element are configured to be separated by a distance.

15. The wireless integrated circuit testing environment of claim 1, wherein the plurality of predetermined signal metrics are determined prior the integrated circuit executing a self-contained testing operation.

16. The wireless integrated circuit testing environment of claim 1, wherein the integrated circuit is from among a plurality of integrated circuits formed on a semiconductor wafer, each of the plurality of integrated circuits having a corresponding set of coordinates from among a plurality of set of coordinates,

wherein the wireless automatic test equipment is further configured to store a map of each predetermined signal metric from among the plurality of predetermined signal metrics to a corresponding set of coordinates from among the plurality of set of coordinates, and

wherein the wireless automatic test equipment is further configured compare the signal metric with one or more predetermined signal metrics from among the plurality of predetermined signal metrics to determine the corresponding set of coordinates for the integrated circuit.

17. A wireless integrated circuit testing environment, comprising:

a coupling element configured to couple to a second coupling element within an integrated circuit to observe a signal passing through the second coupling element, the integrated circuit being located within a semiconductor wafer; and

wireless automatic test equipment configured to determine a signal metric of the observed signal and to compare the signal metric with a plurality of predetermined signal metrics to determine a location of the integrated circuit within a semiconductor wafer, wherein the integrated circuit is from among a plurality of integrated circuits formed on the semiconductor wafer, each of the plurality of integrated circuits having a corresponding unique identification number from among a plurality of unique identification numbers,

wherein the wireless automatic test equipment is further configured to store a map of each predetermined signal metric from among the plurality of predetermined signal metrics to a corresponding location of a corresponding unique identification number from among the plurality of unique identification numbers, and

wherein the wireless automatic test equipment is further configured compare the signal metric with one or more predetermined signal metrics from among the plurality of predetermined signal metrics to determine the corresponding unique identification number for the integrated circuit and to determine the location of the integrated circuit based upon the corresponding unique identification number for the integrated circuit.

18. A wireless integrated circuit testing environment, comprising:

a coupling element configured to couple to a second coupling element within an integrated circuit to observe a signal passing through the second coupling element, the integrated circuit being located within a semiconductor wafer; and

wireless automatic test equipment configured to determine a signal metric of the observed signal and to compare the signal metric with a plurality of predetermined signal metrics to determine a location of the integrated circuit within the semiconductor wafer, wherein the integrated circuit is from among a plurality of integrated circuits formed on a semiconductor wafer, each of the plurality of integrated circuits having a corresponding predetermined signal metric,

wherein the wireless automatic test equipment is further configured to store a map of each corresponding predetermined signal metric from among the plurality of predetermined signal metrics to a corresponding location of a corresponding integrated circuit from among the plurality of integrated circuits, and

wherein the wireless automatic test equipment is further configured to compare the signal metric with one or more predetermined signal metrics from among the plurality of predetermined signal metrics to determine the location of the integrated circuit.