Integrated circuit having an in-situ circuit for detecting an impending circuit failure

A critical data path of an integrated circuit includes a flip flop configured to receive a data input and provide a latched data output. A monitoring circuit includes a delay generator configured to receive the data input and provide a plurality of delayed data outputs corresponding to delayed versi...

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Bibliographische Detailangaben
Hauptverfasser: Tipple, David Russell, Onyema, Emmanuel Chukwuma, Jarrar, Anis Mahmoud
Format: Patent
Sprache:eng
Schlagworte:
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Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:A critical data path of an integrated circuit includes a flip flop configured to receive a data input and provide a latched data output. A monitoring circuit includes a delay generator configured to receive the data input and provide a plurality of delayed data outputs corresponding to delayed versions of the data input with increasing amounts of delay, a selector circuit configured to select one of the plurality of delayed outputs based on a programmable control value, and a shadow latch coupled to an output of the selector circuit and configured to latch a value at its input to provide as a latched shadow output. A comparator circuit provides a match error indicator based on a comparison between the first latched data output and the latched shadow output, and an error indicator is provided which indicates whether or not an impending failure of the critical data path is detected.