Patent ID: 8146036
Filing Date: 2012-03-27
Classification: G01R,H01L

Abstract:
1. A circuit for determining a process corner characterizing a CMOS device of an integrated circuit, the circuit comprising: a CMOS monitoring circuit comprising an NMOS transistor and a PMOS transistor of the integrated circuit; a reference circuit comprising elements for generating a reference voltage for an NMOS transistor and a reference voltage for a PMOS transistor; a first comparator coupled to the CMOS monitoring circuit and the reference circuit, the first comparator comparing a voltage generated by the NMOS transistor monitored by the CMOS monitoring circuit with the reference voltage for an NMOS transistor; and a second comparator coupled to the CMOS monitoring circuit and the reference circuit, the second comparator comparing a voltage generated by the PMOS transistor monitored by the CMOS monitoring circuit with the reference voltage for a PMOS transistors; wherein the process corner characterizing the CMOS device comprises a value based upon an output of the first comparator and an output of the second comparator.