Semiconductor Fault Diagnosis Shift Register Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional semiconductor devices face challenges in predicting and preventing faults, leading to increased circuit size and inability to stop operations before failures occur, particularly due to wear-out failures and multifunctionality.
Innovation Solution
A semiconductor device incorporating a shift register with flip flops and delay means for fault diagnosis, power supply voltage measurement, and operation stop control mechanisms to predict and prevent faults, allowing for early operation stop and reduced circuit size.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If two or more functional circuits are incorporated with self-diagnosis circuits, then fault prediction capability is improved, but circuit size increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the fault diagnosis function into segmented operations: a test pattern generation unit creates test patterns, a shift register unit sequentially supplies these patterns to functional circuits, and a response analysis unit evaluates results. This segmentation allows comprehensive fault prediction without requiring duplicate full functional circuits, thereby reducing circuit size while maintaining reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements preliminary fault detection by performing self-diagnosis before actual faults occur. The test pattern generation unit creates diagnostic patterns in advance, and the shift register supplies these patterns to functional circuits during designated test periods. This preliminary action enables early fault prediction without adding complex real-time monitoring circuits, resolving the contradiction between reliability improvement and circuit size reduction.
2Reliability
If self-diagnosis is performed and operation is stopped after fault occurrence, then fault detection is achieved, but operation cannot be stopped before fault occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables operation stop before fault occurrence by performing preliminary fault detection. The control unit determines whether functional circuits are normal based on self-diagnosis results obtained during test periods, and issues stop instructions to the clock signal before actual faults manifest. This preliminary detection capability eliminates the need to operate until failure, resolving the contradiction between fault detection and timely operation stop.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the control unit receives self-diagnosis results from the shift register and response analysis unit, then determines circuit normality and issues appropriate stop instructions. This closed-loop feedback enables the system to predict faults and stop operations proactively, preventing actual failures while minimizing unnecessary operation stop time, thus resolving the contradiction between detection capability and operational continuity.
3Reliability
If pre-shipment inspection under heavy load is performed, then early failures are prevented, but wear-out failures cannot be addressed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements periodic self-diagnosis operations during which test patterns are supplied to functional circuits and results are analyzed. The control unit periodically determines circuit normality and issues stop instructions as needed. This periodic monitoring enables continuous assessment of circuit health throughout the product lifecycle, addressing both early failures and wear-out failures, thereby resolving the contradiction between early failure prevention and service life management.
Data Source
AI summary
When a stop condition is satisfied, a stop condition determination circuit (10) issues a stop instruction to an operation stop control circuit (11) to stop the operation of a functional circuit (14). A storage device (12) stores therein determination results made by the stop condition determination circuit (10) and operation conditions in the functional circuit (14). An external conveying means (13) conveys the determination results made by the stop condition determination circuit (10) to outside the semiconductor device. If these determination results are used by a peripheral device external to the semiconductor device, it is possible to prevent failures in the peripheral device and malfunctions in the system caused by faults in the semiconductor device.