Duplicate Circuit Block Swapping for RTN Noise Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Random Telegraph Noise (RTN) in semiconductor devices causes improper operation and erroneous results in circuits with long time constants, making it difficult to screen affected parts during production testing due to the long time required to detect failures.
Innovation Solution
An integrated circuit with duplicate circuit blocks that are swapped sequentially using a switch circuit in synchronization with a clock signal to reduce RTN, allowing for noise reduction without identifying the source of the noise.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If duplicate circuit blocks are integrated to reduce RTN, then noise reduction is achieved, but circuit area increases
Solution Approach 1:
The circuit is divided into multiple duplicate blocks (first circuit block, second circuit block, etc.) that can be independently switched. Each block contains identical functionality but is physically separated, allowing selective activation to reduce noise while managing area usage through temporal rather than spatial occupation.
Solution Approach 2:
The circuit configuration is made dynamic through the switch circuit that can selectively connect different duplicate blocks to the output based on clock signal phases. This dynamic switching allows the same physical area to serve multiple functional purposes at different times, reducing the effective area penalty.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If duplicate circuit blocks are integrated to reduce RTN, then noise reduction is achieved, but power consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The circuit is divided into multiple duplicate blocks that are activated sequentially rather than simultaneously. The switch circuit directs only one block's output to the main circuit at any given time, ensuring that while multiple blocks exist physically, only one consumes operational power during switching, thereby limiting power overhead.
Solution Approach 2:
The duplicate blocks are activated in periodic cycles synchronized with the clock signal. Each block operates during specific time windows (e.g., first block during first phase, second block during second phase), creating a periodic activation pattern that distributes power consumption over time rather than having all blocks active continuously.
3Measurement precision
If circuit blocks operate with long time constants to achieve high accuracy, then measurement precision is improved, but detection time increases making production testing prohibitively long
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple duplicate circuit blocks are pre-configured and ready to operate in parallel during production testing. Instead of sequentially testing one block at a time (which would be time-consuming), all blocks can be tested simultaneously by switching between them during the test process, dramatically reducing total testing time while maintaining the required long time constants for accurate measurement.
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple identical copies of the circuit block are created, each capable of independent operation with the same long time constant characteristics. During testing, these copies can be rapidly switched between to perform multiple measurements or to test different instances in parallel, achieving both high precision (through proper settling time) and fast testing (through parallelism and rapid switching).
Data Source
AI summary
An integrated circuit including at least one circuit node, multiple duplicate circuit blocks integrated on the integrated circuit in close proximity with each other, each including at least one device that is susceptible to random telegraph noise (RTN), and a switch circuit that swaps electrical coupling of the duplicate circuit blocks, one at a time, to the at least one circuit node in sequential cycles of a clock signal. The duplicate circuit blocks may be large functional blocks, such as an oscillator or a comparator or the like, or limited to circuits including RTN susceptible devices, such as differential pairs or the like. Each duplicate circuit block may include any number of connections for coupling to corresponding circuit nodes. The swapping may further include chopping in which multiple inputs are swapped with each other while multiple outputs are swapped with each other in consecutive clock cycles.