A Built-in Scheme for Testing and Repairing Voltage Regulators of Low-Power SRAMs

International audienceVoltage regulation systems offer an efficient mechanism for reducing static power consumption of SRAMs. When the SRAM is not accessed for a long period, it switches into an intermediate low-power mode. In this mode, a voltage regulator is used to reduce the voltage supplied to the core-cell array as low as possible without data loss. Therefore, reliable operation of such device must be ensured by using adequate test techniques. In this work, we propose low area overhead built-in self-test (BIST) and built-in self-repair (BISR) schemes that can be embedded on the SRAM to automatically test and repair the voltage regulator. Simulation results prove the effectiveness of the proposed technique for detecting, diagnosing and repairing voltage regulators of low-power SRAMs

Test and Diagnosis of Integrated Circuits

The ever-increasing growth of the semiconductor market results in an increasing complexity of digital circuits. Smaller, faster, cheaper and low-power consumption are the main challenges in semiconductor industry. The reduction of transistor size and the latest packaging technology (i.e., System-On-a-Chip, System-In-Package, Trough Silicon Via 3D Integrated Circuits) allows the semiconductor industry to satisfy the latest challenges. Although producing such advanced circuits can benefit users, the manufacturing process is becoming finer and denser, making chips more prone to defects.The work presented in the HDR manuscript addresses the challenges of test and diagnosis of integrated circuits. It covers:- Power aware test;- Test of Low Power Devices;- Fault Diagnosis of digital circuits