Patent ID: 8024139

Claim:
A method for monitoring device characteristics of semiconductor integrated circuits, the device characteristics including censored data and uncensored data, the method comprising: determining a plurality of minimum breakdown voltages numbered from 1 through N, respectively, for a plurality of lots numbered from 1 through N, each of the plurality of minimum breakdown voltages being respectively indicative of the plurality of samples through order statistics, one or more of the plurality of samples including one or more uncensored data points and one or more censored data points; processing the minimum breakdown voltages, respectively, for the plurality of lots, each of the minimum breakdown voltages processed for the respective plurality of lots being indicative of a population characteristic breakdown voltage numbered from 1 through N for the respective lot numbered from 1 through N; determining one or more anomalies based upon the processing of the minimum breakdown voltages, the one or more anomalies being associated with one or more processes associated with at least one of the lots; and providing an output based upon the one or more anomaly.