Patent ID: 11888494
Assignee: NUVOTON TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION
Field: Basic communication processes (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC H | IPC H

Claim 0:
1. A semiconductor circuit including a data converter that outputs a digital output signal corresponding to a measured signal, the semiconductor circuit comprising:
an analog circuit that quantizes the measured signal inputted; and
a digital circuit that outputs the digital output signal,
wherein the analog circuit includes:
a correction element group including one or more correction elements each for correcting nonlinearity that occurs during a process of converting the measured signal into the digital output signal in the analog circuit; and
a test element group including one or more test elements for testing the one or more correction elements,

the digital circuit tests the correction element group using the test element group,
the digital circuit includes:
a self-diagnostic code generation circuit that generates a self-diagnostic code for (i) enabling or disabling each of the one or more correction elements included in the correction element group and (ii) enabling or disabling each of the one or more test elements included in the test element group;
an error detection circuit that detects, as an error signal, a difference between a quantizer output signal of the analog circuit and a predetermined threshold value, the quantizer output signal being outputted in response to the self-diagnostic code; and
a self-diagnostic circuit that generates a self-diagnostic signal indicating a diagnostic result of the correction element group, based on the error signal,

the self-diagnostic code includes a first fixed code and an optimum code,
the one or more correction elements are three or more correction elements,
the first fixed code is for (i) enabling a single correction element selected as a test target from the correction element group and (ii) disabling other correction elements included in the correction element group and the one or more test elements,
the optimum code is for minimizing the error signal relative to the first fixed code and is generated by binary search, and
the self-diagnostic circuit:
calculates an integrated value of the error signal corresponding to a combination of the first fixed code and the optimum code; and
determines whether the integrated value falls within a predetermined range, and determines the correction element group as being faulty when the integrated value falls outside the predetermined range.