Selective Voltage Binning for Burn-In Power Optimization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Integrated circuit devices experience performance degradation and increased power consumption after burn-in, leading to reduced reliability and excessive power consumption, as higher performance devices exceed system requirements and generate unnecessary power at the nominal and fast ends of the process window distribution.
Innovation Solution
Implement a method of selective voltage binning (SVB) that adjusts the voltage bins based on post-burn-in performance, allowing slower devices to operate at higher voltages and faster devices at lower voltages, using a performance monitor to reassess and rebin devices after burn-in, ensuring they meet system performance requirements while minimizing power consumption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If devices are categorized into voltage bins based on initial performance before burn-in, then high performance devices can operate at lower voltages to reduce power consumption, but after burn-in the performance degrades and devices no longer meet their original bin specifications leading to reliability issues
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs a burn-in operation before final voltage bin assignment to predict future performance. This preliminary stress test allows devices to be categorized into voltage bins based on their post-burn-in performance characteristics rather than initial performance, ensuring that devices will reliably meet their bin specifications throughout their operational lifetime.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where burn-in performance results are used to adjust and refine voltage bin assignments. By measuring device performance before and after burn-in stress, the system adapts the voltage bin categorization to reflect actual post-burn-in capabilities, ensuring reliable operation at the assigned voltage levels.
2Speed
If high performance devices operate at nominal voltage to maintain performance levels, then performance requirements are met, but power consumption becomes excessive especially at the nominal and fast ends of the process window distribution
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the voltage parameter assignment based on post-burn-in performance measurements. Instead of using fixed voltage bins based on initial performance, the system adjusts voltage bin assignments according to measured performance after burn-in stress, optimizing the voltage-performance-power relationship for each device.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by assigning different voltage levels to different devices based on their individual post-burn-in performance characteristics. Each device receives a customized voltage bin assignment that matches its specific performance capabilities, rather than using a uniform voltage assignment for all devices.
3Productivity
If voltage bins are not adjusted after burn-in, then the binning process remains simple and fast, but devices experience early life failures due to performance degradation not being accounted for in the original bin assignment
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs burn-in testing as a preliminary action before final voltage bin assignment. This allows the system to account for performance degradation in advance and make informed binning decisions that ensure reliability, rather than discovering performance issues after devices are deployed.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies beforehand cushioning by subjecting devices to burn-in stress before final categorization, creating a buffer against future performance degradation. This preliminary stress test cushions against early life failures by identifying and accounting for performance changes before devices are assigned to voltage bins and deployed.
Data Source
AI summary
Method of burn-in power optimization which includes: testing integrated circuit devices to record a performance speed for each of the integrated circuit devices; categorizing each integrated circuit device by a selective voltage binning (SVB) process into a voltage bin according to the performance speed of the integrated circuit device; performing a burn-in operation on each of the integrated circuit devices while toggling an SVB performance monitor on each of the integrated circuit devices; testing the plurality of integrated circuit devices after the burn-in operation; categorizing each integrated circuit device into the SVB voltage bin according to the performance speed of the integrated circuit device after the burn-in operation; when the SVB voltage bin after the burn-in operation corresponds to an SVB voltage bin having a slower performance speed than before the burn-in operation, changing the SVB voltage bin to the slower performance speed.