A built-in self test system comprises an integrated circuit device comprising a plurality of functional units coupled to built-in self test circuitry; a low power control unit operable to switch the integrated circuit device into a low power mode and to generate a BIST wake-up signal during or before entering the low power mode; and a built-in self test control unit coupled to the built-in self test circuitry and the low power control unit and arranged to initiate a built-in self test when receiving the BIST wake-up signal.

A circuit screening system includes a target circuit under test, a power circuit, and a clock generating circuit. The target circuit under test receives a first testing signal in a first period, and a second testing signal in a second period, and the first testing signal is different from the second testing signal. The power circuit provides a supply voltage to the target circuit under test, wherein a voltage level of the supply voltage maintains at a first voltage level in the first period, is pulled up to a second voltage level and back to the first level after the first period, and maintains at the first voltage level in a second period after the first period. The clock generating circuit provides a clock signal to the target circuit under test, wherein the clock signal has different profiles in the first period and the second period.

A semiconductor device capable of suppressing a sharp change in current consumption and a self-diagnosis control method thereof are provided. According to one embodiment, the semiconductor device 1 includes a logic circuit, which is a circuit to be diagnosed, a self-diagnostic circuit for diagnosing the logic circuit, and a diagnostic control circuit for controlling the diagnosis of the logic circuit by the self-diagnostic circuit, and the diagnostic control circuit includes a diagnostic abort control circuit for gradually stopping the diagnosis of the logic circuit by the self-diagnostic circuit when the semiconductor device receives a stop signal instructing the stop of the diagnosis of the logic circuit by the self-diagnostic circuit.

A system and methods for adaptive bi-direction audio wiring, in which a circuit may be attached via a headset port using RJ9 pin configurations in a phone handset, and dynamically test many different phone handset configurations for optimal audio pathing and processing for speaker and microphone audio generation with minimal noise, static, or power fluctuation.

A semiconductor device is provided with: a first circuit; a plurality of pattern generators connected to the first circuit and each supplying a test pattern to the first circuit; a pattern-generator control circuit controlling each of the plurality of pattern generators; a pattern compressor compressing a result output from the first circuit in response to supply of the test patterns from the plurality of pattern generators; a pattern-compressor control circuit controlling the pattern compressor; and a self-diagnosis control circuit connected to the pattern-generator control circuit and the pattern-compressor control circuit, and controlling the pattern-generator control circuit such that stop timings of the test patterns differ from one another among the plurality of pattern generators.

Testing of die on wafer is achieved by; (1) providing a tester with the capability of externally communicating JTAG test signals using simultaneously bidirectional transceiver circuitry, (2) providing die on wafer with the capability of externally communicating JTAG test signals using simultaneously bidirectional transceiver circuitry, and (3) providing a connectivity mechanism between the bidirectional transceiver circuitry's of the tester and a selected group or all of the die on wafer for communication of the JTAG signals.

Integrated circuits (12) are manufactured by printing an array of circuit elements CE each containing an integrated circuit and associated testing circuitry (14). A plurality of integrated circuits within the array are tested in parallel to generate a corresponding plurality of individual test result signals. These individual test result signals are combined to form a combined test result signal indicating whether any of the plurality of integrated circuits tested in parallel operated incorrectly during their testing. If the combined test result signal indicates any faulty integrated circuits, then the entire plurality of integrated circuits (e.g. an entire row or column) may be discarded. The array of tested integrated circuits are then separated into discrete integrated circuits and are also separated from their testing circuit. Contacts (16, 18, 20) providing power signals, clock signals, and the reading of the combined test result signals are located at the periphery of a substrate sheet onto which the array of circuit elements are printed.

A voltage detector to detect the voltage level of a switched power supply associated with a power gated region of an integrated circuit. The voltage detection circuit, which can be described as a modified Schmitt trigger circuit, comprises PMOS and NMOS transistors, and an added stack of NMOS transistors to set the output to a value of 1 in response to detection of an input voltage at the input greater than an operational voltage of the switched power supply, for example approximately 80% VDD and above. A pull-down circuit actively pulls the circuit output low before the circuit input drops below the low input threshold. Optional additional NMOS transistors provide the capability to adjust the threshold. The voltage detector circuit can be calibrated and used to detect whether or not the switched power supply associated with a power gated design has reached its operational voltage level.

The present disclosure describes a novel method and apparatus for using a device's power and ground terminals as a test and/or debug interface for the device. According to the present disclosure, messages are modulated over DC voltages applied to the power terminals of a device to input test/debug messages to the device and output test/debug messages from the device. The present disclosure advantageously allows a device to be tested and/or debugged without the device having any shared or dedicated test or debug interface terminals.

A method for automatically scaling estimates of digital power consumed by a portion of an integrated circuit (IC) device by the operating frequency of the portion of the IC are described herein. The method may include obtaining an energy value which may correspond to an amount of energy used by the portion of the IC. A cumulative energy value may be generated by repeatedly, at a frequency proportional to the operating frequency of the portion of the IC, obtaining energy values and adding each obtained energy value to a sum of energy values for the portion of the IC. The cumulative energy value may be sampled at a time sample interval to generate an estimate of the portion of the IC's digital power consumption that is automatically scaled with the operating frequency of the portion of the IC.