A sensor acquires an operating condition of a target circuit. When an operating condition changes, a control circuit corrects an operating time of the target circuit based on a changed operating condition to obtain a corrected operating time, and calculates performance degradation information of the target circuit by using the changed operating condition and the corrected operating time.

The invention discloses a circuit aging detection sensor based on voltage comparison. A control circuit generates an aging voltage signal, a standard voltage signal and a reference voltage signal. The aging voltage signal passes through a first voltage-controlled oscillator to generate an aging frequency signal. The standard voltage signal passes through a second voltage-controlled oscillator to generate a standard frequency signal. The standard frequency signal and the aging frequency signal pass through an aging detection circuit to generate a frequency difference signal. A level signal generated by a serial data detector passes through a beat-frequency oscillator to generate a reset signal. A counter quantizes aging information, which is converted by a digital-analog converter into a quantized voltage signal. The quantized voltage signal is compared with the reference voltage signal by a voltage comparator, to generate a hopping signal at a voltage superposition node, and an aging signal is output.

One specific example involves an integrated circuit that has application logic circuitry which includes flip-flop circuits susceptible to degradations of setup and hold times relative to specified minimum setup and hold times for signals to be processed by the respective flip-flop circuits. In a method carried out by the integrated circuit, timing-based logic states of the flip-flop circuits are controlled, based on at least one transition-scan pattern processed by the flip-flop circuits as part of the application logic circuitry; and respective logic states are set for those flip-flops, which due to degradations of the actual setup and hold times do not satisfy anymore the originally specified minimum setup and hold times.

A method of testing a device comprises receiving signals from a device under test (DUT) and computing an eye diagram using the signals received from the DUT. The method also comprises comparing an eye height and an eye width of the eye diagram to a predetermined values of a threshold eye height and a threshold eye width. Further, responsive to a determination of the eye height and the eye width exceeding the predetermined values of the threshold eye height and the threshold eye width, flagging the DUT as passing.

A sensor system includes a sensor having a charge storage device controllably connected to a voltage source under control of a signal under test; and a readout circuit coupled to the charge storage device to determine whether the pulse width of the signal under test has changed greater than a threshold amount according to a voltage at the charge storage device. In some cases, the determination of whether the pulse width of the signal under test has changed includes determining whether the voltage satisfies a condition with respect to a comparison voltage. In some cases, the determination of whether the pulse width of the signal under test has changed is based on a propagation delay through a delay chain, where the propagation delay is dependent on the voltage.

A semiconductor die may include a first delay circuit formed on a substrate and configured to delay a test signal, the first delay circuit including first delay stages connected in series, a second delay circuit formed on the substrate and configured to delay the test signal, the second delay circuit including second delay stages connected in series, at least one through silicon via connected to at least one output terminal of output terminals of the first delay stages, the at least one through silicon via penetrating through the substrate, and a load determinator configured to compare a first delay signal output from one of the first delay stages with a second delay signal output from one of the second delay stages and determine a load of the at least one through silicon via.

An inspection method for inspecting a semiconductor device which is an object to be inspected includes a step of inputting an input signal to the semiconductor device, a step of irradiating the semiconductor device with light, a step of outputting a result signal indicating a change in a state of the semiconductor device based on an output signal which is output from the semiconductor device to which the input signal is input while the semiconductor device is irradiated with the light, and a step of deriving time information relating to a time from the input of the input signal to the semiconductor device to the output of the result signal.

A method for predicting an operation parameter of an integrated circuit includes the following steps. A plurality of cells used by the integrated circuit are provided. A voltage-frequency sweep test is performed on each of cells through a test model to generate a plurality of parameters, wherein the parameters correspond to a voltage value. A lookup table is established according to the parameters. A timing signoff corresponding to the integrated circuit is obtained. A timing analysis is performed on a plurality of timing paths of the integrated circuit according to the timing signoff and the parameters of the lookup table to obtain a critical timing path, and the operation parameter of the integrated circuit is predicted according to the critical timing path.

The invention discloses a circuit aging detection sensor based on voltage comparison. A control circuit generates an aging voltage signal, a standard voltage signal and a reference voltage signal. The aging voltage signal passes through a first voltage-controlled oscillator to generate an aging frequency signal. The standard voltage signal passes through a second voltage-controlled oscillator to generate a standard frequency signal. The standard frequency signal and the aging frequency signal pass through an aging detection circuit to generate a frequency difference signal. A level signal generated by a serial data detector passes through a beat-frequency oscillator to generate a reset signal. A counter quantizes aging information, which is converted by a digital-analog converter into a quantized voltage signal. The quantized voltage signal is compared with the reference voltage signal by a voltage comparator, to generate a hopping signal at a voltage superposition node, and an aging signal is output.

Various devices, methods and systems are provided for aging-sensitive chip authentication. In one example, among others, a chip includes a reference Schmitt trigger ring oscillator (STRO) configured to enter a sleep mode during operation of the chip; a stressed STRO; a VDD charge pump configured to boost a positive voltage supplied to the stressed STRO during operation of the chip; and/or a GND charge pump configured to under-drive a ground voltage supplied to the stressed STRO during operation of the chip. In another example, a method includes detecting activation of a chip including a reference STRO and a stressed STRO and, in response to the activation of the chip, initiating sleep mode operation of the reference STRO. In response to the activation of the chip, a VDD voltage supplied to the stressed STRO can be boosted and/or a GND voltage supplied to the stressed STRO can be under-driven.