TESTING AND SETTING PERFORMANCE PARAMETERS IN A SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICE AND METHOD 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 of setting performance parameters based on temperature in a semiconductor device including a temperature sensing circuit, comprising the steps of:
setting a temperature of the semiconductor device
generating a first set of test performance parameters; and
testing the operation of the semiconductor device wherein performance parameter adjusted circuits are coupled to receive the first set of test performance parameters.
2 . The method of claim 1 , further including the steps of:
generating a second set of test performance parameters; and
testing the operation of the semiconductor device wherein the performance parameter adjusted circuits are coupled to receive the second set of test performance parameters.
3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein:
the step of generating the second set of test performance parameters included incrementally changing the output of a counter circuit that provides the test performance parameters.
4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein:
the semiconductor device includes a performance parameter table and the method further includes the step of writing the first set of test performance parameters or second set of test performance parameters to the performance parameter table based on the operation of the semiconductor device during the steps of testing the operation.
5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein:
the step of writing includes selecting the first set of test performance parameters or second set of test performance parameters based on a current parameter of the semiconductor device during the steps of testing the operation.
6 . The method of claim 4 , further including the step of:
the step of writing includes selecting the first set of test performance parameters or second set of test performance parameters based on a timing parameter of the semiconductor device during the steps of testing the operation.
7 . A method of setting performance parameters based on temperature in a semiconductor device including a temperature sensing circuit that sets a plurality of temperature ranges of operation, comprising the steps of:
testing the operation of the semiconductor device at a plurality of temperatures, each one of the plurality of temperatures in a corresponding one of the plurality of temperature ranges.
8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein:
the step of testing includes generating a plurality of sets of test performance parameters, each one of the sets of test performance parameters being used to test the operation of the semiconductor device.
9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein:
the plurality of sets of test performance parameters are generated by a counter circuit.
10 . The method of claim 8 , further including the step of:
writing a set of performance parameters to a performance parameter table for each one of the plurality of temperature ranges of operation, wherein the set of performance parameters for each one of the plurality of temperature ranges are selected based on an operating parameter of the semiconductor device monitored during the step of testing.
11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein:
the operating parameter is a current parameter.
12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein:
the current parameter is an active current.
13 . The method of claim 11 , wherein:
the current parameter is a standby current.
14 . The method of claim 10 , wherein:
the operating parameter is a timing parameter.
15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein.
the timing parameter is an access time and the semiconductor device is a memory.
16 . The method of claim 14 , wherein:
the timing parameter is a clock period and the semiconductor device is a processor.
17 . The method of claim 18 , wherein:
the semiconductor device includes performance parameter adjusted circuits coupled to receive the test performance parameters.
18 . The method of claim 17 , wherein:
the semiconductor device includes a counter circuit coupled to provide the set of test performance parameters.
19 . The method of claim 17 , wherein:
the performance parameter adjusted circuits are coupled to receive performance parameters from a performance parameter table.
20 . The method of claim 17 , wherein:
the semiconductor device is tested while on a contiguous wafer of substantially identical semiconductor devices.