Patent ID: 8796047

Claim:
A semiconductor system configured to enhance reliability or reduce performance variability comprising: a primary layer including a first semiconductor chip that is a microprocessor chip, said microprocessor chip including at least one first critical block; and an auxiliary layer including a second semiconductor chip attached to said first semiconductor chip through 3D integration, said second semiconductor chip including an on-chip reliability/variability controller and a set of configurable resources including at least one second critical block that is an exact replica of said at least one first critical block, wherein said on-chip reliability/variability controller includes: a first means for detecting a need for replacing, or enhancing performance of, a resource in said first semiconductor chip; a second means for scanning a pool of existing execution resources or memory resources to find an eligible replacement resource for, or an eligible performance-enhancing resource for, said resource in said first semiconductor chip; a third means for configuring at least one element of said set of configurable resources to replace, or to enhance performance of, said resource in said first semiconductor chip; at least one general logic block including a look-up table embodying preprogrammed recovery schemes for various faults.