Patent ID: 7009417

Claim:
A semiconductor module, comprising: a plurality of contact terminals used for external data interchange, address interchange and/or command interchange during normal operation; at least one further contact terminal not used for external data interchange, address interchange and/or command interchange during the normal operation of the semiconductor module; and a main circuit for testing the semiconductor module, said main circuit connected to said further contact terminal and configured such that a mode of operation for ascertaining and outputting test information during the normal operation of the semiconductor module may be initialized and set through said further contact terminal, it being possible to simultaneously carry out data interchange, address interchange and/or command interchange during the normal operation of the semiconductor module through said contact terminals; said main circuit including: a first reception circuit connected to said further contact terminal for receiving and decoding an input code sequence for initializing a test sequence or a configuration sequence; and a second reception circuit coupled to said further contact terminal for receiving and decoding a function cods sequence for setting the test sequence or the configuration sequence, said second reception circuit being released, once the input code sequence has been received and decoded, by said first reception circuit, for the purpose of receiving the function code sequence, it being possible, once the function code sequence has been received and decoded, for said second reception circuit to be used to set the mode of operation for ascertaining and outputting test information and, respectively, for configuring the semiconductor module during the normal operation of the semiconductor module.