SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE INCLUDING TEMPERATURE RANGES HAVING TEMPERATURE THRESHOLDS AND METHOD OF DETERMINING THEREFOR
A method of determining temperature ranges and setting performance parameters in a semiconductor device that may include at least one temperature sensing circuit is disclosed. The temperature sensing circuits may be used to control various operating parameters to improve the operation of the semiconductor device over a wide temperature range. The performance parameters may be set to improve speed parameters and/or decrease current consumption over a wide range of temperature ranges.
1 . A method, comprising the steps of:
providing a temperature to a device; and
outputting a count value that indicates a temperature range.
2 . The method of claim 1 , further including the step of:
changing the magnitude of the temperature in a first temperature direction.
3 . The method of claim 2 , further including the step of:
incrementally changing the count value in a first count direction in response to the temperature reaching a first temperature threshold of a temperature window.
4 . The method of claim 3 , further including the steps of:
reading the count value with a test apparatus; and
storing the first temperature threshold in a storage medium in response to the step of changing the count value.
5 . The method of claim 4 , further including the step of:
changing the magnitude of the temperature in a second temperature direction.
6 . The method of claim 5 , further including the step of:
incrementally changing the count value in a second count direction in response to the temperature reaching a second temperature threshold of the temperature window.
7 . The method of claim 6 , further including the steps of:
reading the count value with the test apparatus; and
storing the second temperature threshold in a storage medium in response to the step of changing the count value.
8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:
the device is a semiconductor device.
9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein:
the temperature is provided by a thermally conductive metal plate.
10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein:
the device is a packaged semiconductor device including a heat spreader in direct contact with the thermally conductive metal plate.
11 . The method of claim 1 , further including the step of:
placing the device in a test mode of operation.
12 . A method of claim 1 , wherein:
the device is a semiconductor device integrally formed on a semiconductor wafer.
13 . A method of determining a plurality of first temperature range limit values in a semiconductor device including temperature sensor circuits providing a plurality of temperature ranges, each of the plurality of temperature ranges having a first temperature range limit value, the method comprising the steps of:
providing an initial temperature to the semiconductor device;
providing an output value from the semiconductor device, the output value indicating the temperature range in which the initial temperature is located;
incrementally changing the temperature in a first direction while monitoring the output value wherein a change in the output value indicates a first temperature range limit value of the temperature range in which the initial temperature is located.
14 . The method of claim 13 , further including the step of:
repeatedly incrementally changing the temperature in the first direction while monitoring the output value wherein each change in the output value indicates a first temperature range limit value for a respective one of the plurality of temperature ranges.
15 . The method of claim 14 , further including determining a plurality of second temperature range limit values in the semiconductor device including temperature sensor circuits providing the plurality of temperature ranges, each of the plurality of temperature ranges having a second temperature range limit value, the method including the steps of:
repeatedly incrementally changing the temperature in a second direction while monitoring the output value wherein each change in the output value indicates a second temperature range limit value for a respective one of the plurality of temperature ranges.
16 . The method of claim 15 , further including the step of:
storing the first temperature range limit values and the second temperature range limit values in a memory on a tester.
17 . The method of claim 16 , further including the step of:
storing an average temperature value for each temperature range, the average temperature value being essentially an average of the first temperature range limit value and the second temperature range limit value for the corresponding one of the plurality of temperature ranges.
18 . The method of claim 17 , further including the step of:
providing a temperature having the average temperature value of at least one of the plurality of temperature ranges to the semiconductor device.
19 . The method of claim 13 , wherein:
the semiconductor device is a semiconductor memory device.
20 . The device of claim 13 , wherein:
semiconductor device is a processor.