Patent Abstract:
A method and apparatus for power glitch detection in IC&#39;s is disclosed. In one embodiment, a method includes a detection circuit in an IC detecting a voltage transient wherein a value of a supply voltage has at least momentarily fallen below a reference voltage value. Responsive thereto, the detection circuit may cause a logic value to be stored in a register indicating that the detection circuit has detected the supply voltage falling below the reference voltage. The IC may include a number of detection circuits coupled to the register, each of which may provide a corresponding indication of detecting the supply voltage falling below the reference voltage. The detection circuits may be placed at different locations, and thus reading the register may yield information indicating the locations where, if any, such voltage transients occurred.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    1. Technical Field 
         [0002]    This disclosure is directed to integrated circuits, and more particularly, to the detection of power transients within integrated circuits. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0004]    Integrated circuits (IC&#39;s) are typically tested at the end of the manufacturing process in order to verify their correct operation and to identify parts that are faulty. In addition, IC&#39;s may be tested during the design phase in order to find flaws in the design that are not apparent before it is committed to silicon. 
         [0005]    Many different failure mechanisms may cause a particular instance of an IC to fail a test. In some cases, the failures may be hard failures. Examples of hard failures include faulty or inoperative transistors, unintentional short circuits, unintentional open circuits, and so forth. In other cases, failures may be soft failures. A soft failure may be defined as a failure that occurs in the operation of a circuit even though the components themselves are not faulty. 
         [0006]    One source of soft failures is transients on supply voltage nodes. For example, the switching of a large number of circuits simultaneously can cause a momentary drop in the supply voltage (sometimes referred to as a droop, a glitch, or a di/dt event). As a result of the momentary drop in the supply voltage, some transistors may switch states when they are not intended to, while others may not switch states even though such switching is intended. Thus, even though the actual transistors of the IC meet specifications, a glitch in the supply voltage may nevertheless cause the IC to fail a test or otherwise enter an inoperative state from which the IC cannot recover. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0007]    A method and apparatus for power glitch detection in IC&#39;s is disclosed. In one embodiment, a method includes a detection circuit in an IC detecting a voltage transient wherein a value of a supply voltage has at least momentarily fallen below a reference voltage value. Responsive thereto, the detection circuit may cause a logic value to be stored in a register indicating that the detection circuit has detected the supply voltage falling below the reference voltage. The IC may include a number of detection circuits coupled to the register, each of which may provide a corresponding indication of detecting the supply voltage falling below the reference voltage. The detection circuits may be placed at different locations, and thus reading the register may yield information indicating the locations where, if any, such voltage transients occurred. 
         [0008]    A detection circuit may be implemented using a voltage comparator and a flip-flop. The voltage comparator may receive the supply voltage on one input, and the reference voltage on another input. The reference voltage may be a variable voltage. The output of the comparator may be coupled to a clock input of the flip-flop. A data input of the flip-flop may be coupled to a fixed voltage value. If the comparator detects that the supply voltage has fallen below the reference voltage, is may trigger a change of state of its corresponding output signal. Responsive to detecting the change of state of the output signal on its clock input, the flip-flop may correspondingly change the state of its output signal. This result may then be written to the register. Since the data input of the flip-flop is coupled to a fixed voltage, it may maintain its output state irrespective of subsequent changes to the supply voltage until a reset occurs from a source external thereto. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0009]    The following detailed description makes reference to the accompanying drawings, which are now briefly described. 
           [0010]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of one embodiment of an IC. 
           [0011]      FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of one embodiment of a detection circuit. 
           [0012]      FIG. 3  is a graphical illustration of the detection of a supply voltage glitch. 
           [0013]      FIG. 4  is a flow diagram illustrating one embodiment of a method for detecting a supply voltage glitch. 
           [0014]      FIG. 5  is a flow diagram illustrating one embodiment of determining a location of a supply voltage glitch in an IC. 
           [0015]      FIG. 6  is a block diagram of one embodiment of an exemplary system. 
       
    
    
       [0016]    While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit the invention to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims. The headings used herein are for organizational purposes only and are not meant to be used to limit the scope of the description. As used throughout this application, the word “may” is used in a permissive sense (i.e., meaning having the potential to), rather than the mandatory sense (i.e., meaning must). Similarly, the words “include”, “including”, and “includes” mean including, but not limited to. 
         [0017]    Various units, circuits, or other components may be described as “configured to” perform a task or tasks. In such contexts, “configured to” is a broad recitation of structure generally meaning “having circuitry that” performs the task or tasks during operation. As such, the unit/circuit/component can be configured to perform the task even when the unit/circuit/component is not currently on. In general, the circuitry that forms the structure corresponding to “configured to” may include hardware circuits. Similarly, various units/circuits/components may be described as performing a task or tasks, for convenience in the description. Such descriptions should be interpreted as including the phrase “configured to.” Reciting a unit/circuit/component that is configured to perform one or more tasks is expressly intended not to invoke 35 U.S.C. §112, paragraph six interpretation for that unit/circuit/component. 
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
       [0018]    Turning now to  FIG. 1 , a block diagram of one embodiment of an IC is shown. In the embodiment shown, IC  10  includes a number of detection circuits  20 , each of which are coupled to register  15 . It is noted that IC  10  may include other circuitry, such as one or more functional blocks configured to perform the action function of the IC. These blocks are not shown here for the sake of simplicity. 
         [0019]    Each of detection circuits  20  in the embodiment shown is configured to detect glitches in the supply voltage, Vdd. As used herein, a glitch may be defined as a supply voltage transient which cause the supply voltage to fall below a certain voltage threshold (referred to herein as a reference voltage). The cause of a glitch may vary from one instance to the next. For example, a glitch may be caused by simultaneous switching noise, i.e. when a number of circuits switch at substantially the same time, thereby causing a significant change in the amount of current drawn from the supply voltage node. The results of a glitch can be erroneous operation of circuits, and in some cases, can cause circuits (if not the entire IC) to become inoperative. 
         [0020]    Another aspect of power supply glitches is that they may be localized. For example, a glitch may occur at a location in an IC near a number of circuits that have recently switched states, while the supply voltage may remain substantially stable in another location of the IC that it sufficiently remote from the location where the glitch occurred. As such, the detection circuits  20  are implemented at different locations on IC  10 . While it is noted that five instances of detection circuit  20  are shown here, any number of instances of detection circuit  20  may be implemented in various embodiments of an IC falling within the scope of this disclosure. 
         [0021]    Each of the detection circuits  20  in the embodiment shown is coupled to receive two supply voltages, Vdd and AVdd (for ‘analog Vdd’). The first supply voltage, Vdd, is the supply voltage used to supply circuits in the vicinity of detection circuit  20  (e.g., logic circuits in the vicinity), and is the voltage that is compared to a reference voltage, as explained in further detail below. The AVdd voltage is separate from Vdd, and is provided as a supply voltage to certain components within each detection circuit  20  to ensure their correct operation irrespective of any glitches in Vdd. 
         [0022]    Each detection circuit  20  is configured to assert a corresponding glitch signal (e.g., ‘Glitch 0’, ‘Glitch 1’, etc.) in the event that a glitch is detected. The glitch signal asserted by a given detection circuit  20  may be received by register  15 . Responsive to the assertion of a glitch signal by a given detection circuit, register  15  may record and store the occurrence. The contents of register  15  may be read from an entity external to 
         [0023]    IC  10  through the ‘Reg_Out’ output, which may be a serial or parallel output path. Analysis of the contents read from register  15  may provide information as to the location of supply voltage glitches. Such information can be obtained during post-silicon testing during the development phase, during manufacturing testing, and/or during failure analysis after a subsequent failure of IC  10  in the field. The information may be used to refine and improve the design of IC  10 . 
         [0024]    In the embodiment shown, IC  10  also includes a counter unit  16 . Counter unit  16  may include a number of individual counters each corresponding to one of the detection circuits  20 . The counters within counter unit  16  may track the number of glitches that occur from their corresponding detection circuits. For example, a number of tests of IC  10  may be performed on an IC test system, with the counters of counter unit  16  determining a number of glitches detected by each detection circuit  20 . In order to facilitate such testing, each detection circuit  20  may be resettable. The count information may be useful in analyzing glitch-induced failures and determining conditions during which glitches occur, among other things. 
         [0025]      FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of one embodiment of a detection circuit. In the embodiment shown, detection circuit  20  includes a comparator  24  coupled to receive on its inputs the supply voltage, Vdd, and a reference voltage, Vref. Comparator  24  is also coupled to receive AVdd as its operating voltage. The reference voltage may be received via selection circuit  22 , and may be any one of voltage V 1 , V 2 , or V 3  in this particular example. Voltages V 1 , V 2 , and V 3  may be different from one another. Accordingly, the reference voltage may be varied, which may be useful in embodiments in which Vdd is also variable (e.g., in embodiments that use dynamic voltage and frequency scaling or otherwise adjust the supply voltage for different operating points). Furthermore, each of voltages V 1 , V 2 , and V 3  may in and of itself be variable. In this particular example, voltage V 1  is received from voltage regulator  27 , which is a variable voltage regulator. The voltage output therefrom as voltage V 1  may be varied according to the ‘SetV’ signal, which may be received from another source, internal or external, not shown here. 
         [0026]    In an alternate embodiment not illustrated here, selection circuit  22  may be dispensed of, with Vref being coupled to a voltage regulator/generator to provide the reference voltage. In embodiments where Vdd does not change with operating state, Vref may be supplied to comparator as a substantially fixed voltage. As used herein, the term ‘fixed voltage’ may be defined as a voltage that is intended to remain at a predefined level (within a specified range, e.g., 5%) throughout operation of the circuit. Accordingly, the term ‘fixed voltage’ as used herein would exclude certain signals, such as logic signals in which the voltage is changed to indicate a change of state (e.g., where a logic  0  is 0 volts while a logic  1  is at Vdd). 
         [0027]    The output of comparator  24  in the embodiment shown is coupled to a clock input of flip-flop  26 . Flip-flop  26  in this embodiment is a D-type flip-flop, in which the state of the ‘Q’ output follows the ‘D’ input. At the beginning of operation, the ‘Q’ output (‘Glitch’) of flip-flop  26  may be low. When the supply voltage Vdd is greater than the reference voltage Vref in the embodiment shown, the output of comparator  24  may be low (e.g., at 0 volts, or ground). If a glitch causes Vdd to fall below Vref, the output of comparator  24  may transition high (e.g., to AVdd). When this change is detected on the clock input of flip-flop  26 , the output thereof, ‘Glitch’, transitions high due to the ‘D’ input being hardwired to V_Fix. The transition high is detected by the register, which records and stores the instance of the glitch. Due to the configuration of flip-flop  26 , the ‘Glitch’ signal may remain high until the ‘Reset’ signal is received in an asserted state from another source (not shown). The ability to reset flip-flop  26  may be useful in instance when a number of different tests are to be performed, e.g., using different reference voltages. 
         [0028]    In embodiments in which Vref is variable, it may be possible to determine the magnitude of the glitch, or a reasonable approximation thereof. For example, consider a manufacturing test environment in which a glitch is detected during a certain test, with V 1  provided as Vref. After the test has completed, flip-flop  26  may be reset, and the test may be conducted again with V 2  provided as Vref, where V 2  is less than V 1 . If the glitch is not detected with V 2  provided as Vref, it can be determined that the magnitude of the glitch causes Vdd to fall somewhere between V 1  and V 2 . On the other hand, if the glitch is detected when V 2  is provided as Vref, flip-flop  26  may be reset and the test can be repeated again with V 3  as provided as Vref. If the glitch does not occur, the magnitude can be determined cause Vdd to fall somewhere between V 2  and V 3 . Otherwise, if the glitch occurs again, the magnitude thereof can be determined to cause the Vdd to fall below V 3 . Numerous other examples of determining the magnitude of a glitch are possible and contemplated (e.g., by varying the voltage of V 1  output from voltage regulator  27 ), and may vary depending on the capabilities of the specific implementation of detection circuit  20  and IC  10 . 
         [0029]      FIG. 3  includes graphics illustrations of the operation of detection circuit  20 . In the upper graph, Vdd falls momentarily, but not enough to fall below Vref. Accordingly, no glitch has occurred, and the glitch signal is not triggered by the detection circuit  20 . In the lower diagram, Vdd has momentarily fallen below Vref, and thus a glitch has occurred. Approximately at the moment Vdd falls below Vref, the glitch signal is triggered, and remains so for the remainder of this example. 
         [0030]    Moving now to  FIG. 4 , a flow diagram illustrating one embodiment of a method for detecting a supply voltage glitch. Method  400  may be performed using detection circuit  20  and IC  10  as shown above. However, the methodology disclosed here is not limited to those hardware embodiments. In contrast, the performance of method  400  by a wide variety of hardware embodiments is possible and contemplated. 
         [0031]    Method  400  begins with the comparing of the supply voltage to a reference voltage (block  405 ). If a voltage glitch has not occurred (block  410 , no), then the method returns to block  405 . If a voltage glitch does occur (block  410 , yes), then the comparator may assert its output signal (block  415 ). The output signal may be received by a flip-flop (e.g., at its clock input as shown in  FIG. 2 ), thereby causing it to assert its output signal (block  420 ). This may also cause a write to a register to record and store an indication of the occurrence of the glitch. The flip-flop signal may be held in an asserted state until a reset occurs (block  425 ). 
         [0032]      FIG. 5  is a flow diagram illustrating one embodiment of determining a location of a supply voltage glitch in an IC. Like method  400 , the performance of method  500  may include the use of the hardware disclosed in  FIGS. 1 and 2  and discussed above, but is not limited to those embodiments. 
         [0033]    Method  500  begins with an IC determining, in a number of different locations (using a number of corresponding detection circuits), whether one or more glitches have occurred to a supply voltage (block  505 ). This determination may be made during a test (e.g., a manufacturing test) of the IC which includes the various detection circuits, but may also occur during normal operation in the field when a glitch causes the IC to become inoperative and thus requires replacement in its corresponding system. 
         [0034]    For each glitch that occurs, an indication may be asserted, written and stored into a register which includes locations for storing such information (block  510 ). At some point thereafter, the contents of the register are read (block  515 ). From the register contents that are read, a determination can be made as to the locations at which the power supply glitches occurred (block  520 ). This may be made possible when the register locations are associated with particular locations of the detection circuits implemented in the IC. 
         [0035]    Turning next to  FIG. 6 , a block diagram of one embodiment of a system  150  is shown. In the illustrated embodiment, the system  150  includes at least one instance of the integrated circuit  10  coupled to external memory  158 . The integrated circuit  10  is coupled to one or more peripherals  154  and the external memory  158 . A power supply  156  is also provided which supplies the supply voltages to the integrated circuit  10  as well as one or more supply voltages to the memory  158  and/or the peripherals  154 . In some embodiments, more than one instance of the integrated circuit  10  may be included (and more than one external memory  158  may be included as well). 
         [0036]    The peripherals  154  may include any desired circuitry, depending on the type of system  150 . For example, in one embodiment, the system  150  may be a mobile device (e.g. personal digital assistant (PDA), smart phone, etc.) and the peripherals  154  may include devices for various types of wireless communication, such as WiFi, Bluetooth, cellular, global positioning system, etc. The peripherals  154  may also include additional storage, including RAM storage, solid-state storage, or disk storage. The peripherals  154  may include user interface devices such as a display screen, including touch display screens or multitouch display screens, keyboard or other input devices, microphones, speakers, etc. In other embodiments, the system  150  may be any type of computing system (e.g. desktop personal computer, laptop, workstation, tablet, etc.). 
         [0037]    The external memory  158  may include any type of memory. For example, the external memory  158  may be SRAM, dynamic RAM (DRAM) such as synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate (DDR, DDR2, DDR3, LPDDR1, LPDDR2, etc.) SDRAM, RAMBUS DRAM, etc. The external memory  158  may include one or more memory modules to which the memory devices are mounted, such as single inline memory modules (SIMMs), dual inline memory modules (DIMMs), etc. 
         [0038]    Numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated. It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to embrace all such variations and modifications.

Technology Classification (CPC): 6