US20110074385A1

US20110074385A1 - Semiconductor integrated circuit

Info

Publication number: US20110074385A1
Application number: US12/849,807
Authority: US
Inventors: Yasuyoshi Sunaga; Hideki Sakakibara; Yuko Ito; Tomoji Nakamura; Atsushi Hazeyama; Kozaburo Kurita; Koki Tsutsumida
Original assignee: Hitachi Ltd
Current assignee: Hitachi Ltd
Priority date: 2009-09-28
Filing date: 2010-08-03
Publication date: 2011-03-31
Also published as: JP5292243B2; US9291671B2; US20140070863A1; JP2011069756A

Abstract

There is provided a semiconductor integrated circuit in which a ring oscillator is formed by a variable delay circuit to cause the ring oscillator to oscillate (S2) at the test operation of the variable delay circuit and it is determined whether the variable delay circuit is normal or abnormal depending on whether the ring oscillator satisfies a predetermined monotonic increase condition (S6) and a predetermined linearity condition (S7).

Description

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

The present application claims priority from Japanese patent application JP 2009-221900 filed on Sep. 28, 2009, the content of which is hereby incorporated by reference into this application.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a test circuit (a Built In Self-Test circuit, abbreviated to a BIST circuit) for evaluating a variable delay circuit and a delay control circuit integrated in a semiconductor device.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A timing generator LSI for supplying a clock signal to an LSI tester is provided with a variable delay circuit and outputs a clock signal with a phase according to a test timing. Since a timing generator circuit is equipped with a plurality of variable delay circuits to sufficiently ensure the accuracy and the variable delay range of a clock signal to be output therefrom, the timing generator circuit is a complicated one. The delay control circuit can perform a small current control by using a digital-to-analog conversion circuit (hereinafter referred to as DAC) to improve the accuracy of delay and save electricity. An increase in degree of integration also increases the number of variable delay circuits which can be mounted on one LSI. Accordingly, the number of variable delay circuits mounted on one timing generator LSI reaches about several hundreds.
A ring oscillator is formed of variable delay circuits to measure its oscillation frequency, ensuring the operation of circuits in such a timing generator LSI. JP-A-2000-180514 discusses an example in which, although the document has its purpose to calibrate the phase of an output clock signal, a signal output to the terminal of a signal transmission route is fed back to the starting end thereof to form a closed loop oscillation circuit, which is used to adjust timing.
US2007/0091701 discloses a test method using the DAC. US2007/0091701 discusses that the operation confirmation of a transistor for controlling the current path of the DAC is performed by a functional test; however, the output current and voltage are outputted to an external tester.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Almost all of test time for a delay circuit is spent for measurement by a frequency counter. The time required for the test depends on accuracy and oscillation frequency. Measurement time is on the order of several milliseconds to several seconds per circuit. The test time increases in proportion to measurement accuracy, the number of variable delay circuits to be measured, and the number of combinations of delay adjustment parameters. As described above in “BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION,” these factors are being increased. On the other hand, pins for test are increased in number to increase in the speed of input and output between a tester and an LSI, allowing reducing the test time, however, the number of pins allocated to the test is limited, which cannot really suppress an increase in the time required for the test.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor integrated circuit includes: a variable delay circuit; and a test circuit for the variable delay circuit; wherein the test circuit forms a ring oscillator using the variable delay circuit, causes the ring oscillator to oscillate at the time of test operation and determines whether the variable delay circuit is normal or abnormal depending on whether the ring oscillator satisfies predetermined monotonic increase and linearity conditions.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor integrated circuit includes: a variable delay circuit; a delay control circuit including a digital analog conversion circuit configured to convert a digital signal to the amount of current and controlling the delay of the variable delay circuit by voltage according to the amount of current; and a test circuit for the delay control circuit; wherein the delay control circuit includes a plurality of unit current sources selected according to the value of a digital signal and the test circuit functionally and digitally determines that the value of a current flowing into each of the plurality of the unit current sources falls within a predetermined range to determine whether the delay control circuit is normal or abnormal.
The time required for the test of the variable delay circuit and the analog characteristic of the DAC is reduced.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a variable delay circuit and a delay test circuit therefor;

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a test using FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram for a linearity evaluation determination of the variable delay circuit;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the delay test circuit applied to a plurality of the variable delay circuits;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a delay control circuit and a test circuit therefor;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a generation probability of current flowing, into a unit current source;

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a relationship among current, voltage, and determination output in a window comparator;

FIG. 8 is a circuit diagram in which the same control DAC is used as a replica DAC;

FIG. 9 is an example of a configuration in which test results are integrated and output;

FIG. 10 is an example of a configuration in which a current switch is mounted; and

FIG. 11 is an example of a configuration of the variable delay circuit and the delay control circuit.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

First Embodiment

The test circuit and the test method of the variable delay circuit are described below as a first embodiment.
FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a variable delay circuit 100 to be measured and a delay test circuit therefor. The variable delay circuit 100 delays an input signal by a delay according to a control signal from a delay control circuit 150. The blocks excluding the variable delay circuit 100 are referred to as the delay test, circuit and include a state machine 200, a test switching circuit 300, a frequency measurement circuit 400, a frequency counter register 500, an expected value generating circuit 600, an expected value register 700, a comparison circuit 800, and a test result register 900.
In a normal operation mode, the test switching circuit 300 selects a clock signal SIG. The delay control circuit 150 receives a delay control signal to adjust a delay control parameter. The variable delay circuit 100 delays the clock signal SIG input from delay control circuit 150 according to a change in the delay control parameter and outputs the delayed clock signal SIGOUT.
The flow on the whole of the test is described later with reference to FIG. 2. The function and the operation of each block are described below.
A test setting signal is inputted into the state machine 200. The state machine 200 includes a setting storage register 210 and a setting control machine 220. Test setting data is scanned in the setting storage register 210 from the outside. The setting control machine 220 receives setting data from the setting storage register 210 and controls the delay test circuit.
The test switching circuit 300 is controlled by the setting control machine 220 and selects a loop path L passing through the variable delay circuit 100 at the time of starting the test, thereby forming a ring oscillator.
The frequency measurement circuit 400 includes a ring oscillator counter 410 and a reference clock counter 420. The ring oscillator counter 410 counts the number of times of oscillation of the ring oscillator when the test switching circuit 300 forms the ring oscillator. The reference clock counter 420 counts the number of times of oscillation of a reference clock. When the count value of the reference clock counter 420 reaches a setting value given by the setting control machine 220, the reference clock counter 420 stops counting and stores the count value. At the same time, the count of the ring oscillator is ended.
The test of the variable delay circuit 100 is conducted using the count value of the ring oscillator counter 410 obtained when the count value of the reference clock counter 420 reaches the predetermined setting value. Hereinafter, the count value of the ring oscillator counter 410 is represented by C_Nat the time (represented by time P_N) when the reference clock counter 420 reaches N-th predetermined setting value after the test starts. The counter register 500 stores the count value of the ring oscillator counter 410, i.e., C_N−1at the time (represented by time P_N−1) when the reference clock counter 420 reaches (N−1)th predetermined setting value.
The expected value generating circuit 600 uses the count value (C_N) of the ring oscillator counter 410 and the count value (C_N−1) of the counter register 500 to generate an expected value at the time of test.
The expected value register 700 includes a monotonic expected value register 710, a first linear expected value register 730, and a second linear expected value register 720. The monotonic expected value register 710 reads the count value stored in the counter register 500 and stores it. The first linear expected value register 730 stores the expected value E_N+1, L_uN+1, and L_1N+1) generated in the expected value generating circuit 600. The second linear expected value register 720 reads an expected value (E_N, L_uN, and L_1N) being earlier by one period than the expected value (E_N+1, L_uN+1, and L_1N+1) from the first linear expected value register 730 and stores the expected value (E_N, L_uN, and L_1N).
The comparison circuit 800 compares the count value stored in the ring oscillator counter 410 with the expected value stored in the monotonic expected value register 710 and the second linear expected value register 720.
The test result register 900 stores the comparison result from the comparison circuit 800.
FIG. 2 is an example of the flow of a delay time test conducted in the circuit shown in FIG. 1. The monotonic increase and linearity of delay of the variable delay circuit 100 are confirmed. The test of the variable delay circuit 100 is narrowed to the evaluation of monotonic increase and linearity to allow incorporating the expected value generating circuit and a determination circuit into the LSI.
In step S1, the external tester writes test setting data into the setting storage register 210. The setting control machine 220 reads the setting data from the setting storage register 210 to execute the control in step S2 and the subsequent steps.
In step S2, the test switching circuit 300 selects the loop path L to form the ring oscillator including the variable delay circuit 100 and causes the ring oscillator to oscillate.
In step S3, the ring oscillator counter 410 and the reference clock counter 420 start measuring count. When the count value of the reference clock counter 420 reaches the setting value provided by the setting control machine 220, the reference clock counter 420 outputs a count stop signal to the setting control machine 220. The setting control machine 220 receives the count stop signal and outputs the count stop signal to the ring oscillator counter 410 to stop the ring oscillator from counting. The count value C_Nis stored in the ring oscillator counter 410 and measurement is ended.
In step S4, the expected value generating circuit 600 reads the count value C_Nstored in the ring oscillator counter 410 and the count value C_N−1stored in the counter register 500, generates the linear expected value E_N+1and defines a linearity determination range.
FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram for a linearity evaluation determination. In FIG. 3, the abscissa denotes time and the ordinate denotes the count value of the ring oscillator counter 410. If the difference between the count values C_Nand C_N−1is take as Δ, the expected value E_N+1of the count value at the time P_N−1can be represented by C_N+Δ. The linearity determination range within which the output of the variable delay circuit 100 at the time P_N+1is regarded as satisfying linearity is expressed by the following equations using a linearity allowance range R provided by the setting control machine 220:
L _uN+1 =E _N+1 +R
L _1N+1 =E _N+1 −R
where L_uN+1is the upper limit value of the linearity determination range at the time P_N+1and L_1N+1is the lower limit value thereof. The values are stored in the first linear expected value register 730.
In step S5, the count value C_N−1stored in the counter register 500 is read into the monotonic expected value register 710 and taken as an expected value to be used for monotonic evaluation.
In step S6, the comparison circuit 800 compares the count value C_N−1stored in the monotonic expected value register 710 with the count value C_Nstored in the ring oscillator counter 410. If C_N−1<C_N, it is determined that the count value C_Nmonotonically increases. After the comparison is ended, the test result is stored in the test result register 900. If it is determined that the count value C_Nmonotonically increases, the proceeding proceeds to the following step for linearity evaluation. If it is determined that the count value C_Ndoes not monotonically increase, the result is outputted and the processing is ended (step S11).
In step S7, the comparison circuit 800 reads the upper limit value L_uNand the lower limit value L_1Nof the linearity determination range stored in the second linear expected value register 720 and the count value C_Nstored in the ring oscillator counter 410 and if L_1N<C_N<L_uN, it is determined that the count value C_Nis within a prescribed linearity range. If the linearity comparison is satisfied, it is confirmed whether the parameter is the latest one. If it is confirmed that the parameter is not the latest one, the result is outputted and the proceeding is ended (step S11).
In step S8, if the control parameter is the latest one, the result is outputted and the proceeding is ended (step S11). If the control parameter is not the latest one, the count value C_Nstored in the ring oscillator counter 410 is stored in the counter register 500. The expected value (E_N+1, L_uN+1and L_1N+1) stored in the first linear expected value register 730 is stored in the second linear expected value register 720 (step S9). After storage, the time parameter is changed from N to (N+1) in step S10, and measurement is continued.
FIG. 4 shows an example of configuration of a plurality of the variable delay circuits 100. The blocks being common in function to those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference characters and numerals. FIG. 4 has two variable delay circuits. The blocks and the signals related to a first variable delay circuit 100 a are provided with a subscript “a” and the blocks and the signals related to a second variable delay circuit 100 b are provided with a subscript “b,” the detailed description thereof is omitted. Thus, a test switching circuit 310 corresponding to the variable delay circuit, a frequency measurement circuit 400 and the like are prepared for the plurality of the variable delay circuits 100 to allow simultaneous test of a plurality of the variable delay circuits. Thereby, testing time can be reduced.
In the configuration of FIG. 4, an inverter 1000 is put between a first variable delay circuit 100 a and a second variable delay circuit 100 b to couple them together, thereby allowing forming a ring oscillator using two variable delay circuits. The selector of the test switching circuit 310 switches three inputs. In a normal operation mode, the clock signal SIG input to an input in1 is inputted. If a plurality of the variable delay circuits is separately tested, the selector selects an input in2. In this case, each of the variable delay circuits is tested as is the case with the example in FIG. 1. When the selector selects an input in3, a loop path of the variable delay circuit 100 a, the inverter 1000, the test switching circuit 310 b, the variable delay circuit 100 b, and the test switching circuit 310 a is formed to form a ring oscillator using two variable delay circuits 100 a and 100 b.
A small delay of the variable delay circuit increases the oscillation frequency of the ring oscillator, which makes it difficult to conduct a test. As shown in FIG. 4, the ring oscillator is formed by a plurality of the variable delay circuits to suppress the increase of the oscillation frequency of the ring oscillator even if an individual variable delay circuit is small in delay, increasing the accuracy of a test. Furthermore, the delays of the first and the second variable delay circuit are complementarily changed to make constant the oscillation frequency of the coupled ring oscillator, enabling the influence of frequency dependency to be eliminated, which allows further increasing test accuracy.

Second Embodiment

In the second embodiment, the test circuit and the test method of the delay control circuit 150 are described below. In a configuration in FIG. 5, delay is controlled by the DAC. A control DAC 2100 has a plurality of unit current sources M1 to M3. The control. DAC 2100 performs switching between conduction and non-conduction of transistors M4 to M6 using control signals DC1 to DC3. Current I_Dflowing according to a control DAC control signal DC is current/voltage converted by a mirror circuit MR1 and a voltage according to the current I_Dis applied to the variable delay circuit 100 to control the delay. It is needless to say that the number of unit current sources of the control DAC 2100 is not limited to three. The gate width W of each of the unit current sources M1 to M3 may be adjusted to make the current I_Dmultiple. In the present embodiment, it is tested whether all bits in the control DAC 2100 normally operate using the output current of the control DAC. “All bits normally operate” means that both of the following are satisfied: conduction and non-conduction of the transistors M4 to M6 are normally performed; and current flowing into the unit current sources M1 to M3 falls within a design value.
Thus, a test for each unit current source is conducted instead of conducting a test for all variable delay parameters in the delay control circuit to allow reducing the number of tests from the number of all variable delay parameters to the number of unit current sources in the delay control circuit, enabling the test time to be reduced. Since the magnitude relation between the amounts of current in the unit current sources can be directly tested with respect to a change in delay in the variable delay circuit, measurement accuracy can be improved.
A test circuit for the delay control circuit 150 is formed of a replica DAC 2200 and a window comparator 2300.
The replica DAC 2200 also includes a plurality of unit current sources M11 to M13. Replica DAC control signals RDC1 to RDC3 perform switching between conduction and non-conduction of transistors M14 to M16. The common reference voltage is applied to the gates of the unit current sources of the control DAC 2100 and the replica DAC 2200. It is necessary only that the replica DAC 2200 can cause current I_Rrequired for the test for the control DAC 2100 to flow, so that the replica DAC 2200 does not always need to be similar in configuration to the control DAC 2100. Since the replica DAC 2200 is mounted in the same LSI, the replica DAC 2200 is desirably as small as possible to reduce overhead.
The window comparator 2300 includes a window width adjustment circuit 2310 and a determination circuit (an OR circuit in this example) 2320.
The window width adjustment circuit 2310 is controlled by window width setting signals WS1 and WS2. A current mirror circuit draws a current equivalent to the output current I_Dof the control DAC 2100 and transistors M21 and M22 the size of which is adjusted to the current adjust an output current I_w.
An example is shown below. Suppose that the current I_Dis mirrored on the source and drain path of the transistor M21 when the gate width of the transistor M21 is w. In this case, the gate width of the transistor M21 is taken as 0.8 w and the gate width of the transistor M22 is 0.4 w. At this point, both of the transistors M21 and M22 are caused to conduct to obtain the output current I_w=1.2 I_D. The transistor M21 is caused to conduct and the transistor M22 is not caused to conduct to obtain the output current I_w=0.8 I_D.
The determination circuit 2320 determines whether a current in which the output current of the control DAC 2100 is adjusted by the window width adjustment circuit 2310 is greater or smaller than the output current of the replica DAC 2200.
The window width setting signal WS, the control DAC control signal DC, the replica DAC control signal RDC, and a test enable TE are inputted from the outside (tester).
The determination principle of the window comparator 2300 is described below with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7 with the unit current source M1 of the control DAC 2100 as an example. When the transistor M4 is caused to conduct and the transistors M5 and M6 are caused not to conduct, it is supposed that the current I_D(actual measured value) flows into the unit current source M1.
As shown in FIG. 6, the current I_Dflowing into the unit current source M1 disperses with a design value I_DIas a center, so that if the actual measured value is within the range of the following formula (1), the unit current source M1 is regarded as being normally operated:
b·I _DI <I _D(actual measured value)<a·I _DI(a>1,0≦b≦1) (1).
In the configuration in FIG. 5, a determination is made as described below as to whether the current I_D(actual measured value) falls within a predetermined normal range.

[Determination of Upper Limit]

As shown in FIG. 6, if the current I_Dis represented by the following formula (2):
k ₁ ·I _D <a·I _DI(a>k ₁>1) (2)
the upper limit is regarded as being satisfied. For the sake of simplicity of description, suppose that the output current I_Rof the replica DAC is equal to I_DI(that is, I_R=I_DI). For example, the unit current source M1 of the control DAC and the unit current source M11 of the replica DAC are produced by transistors with the same size to satisfy the supposition.
Therefore, the formula (2) can be replaced by the following formula (3):
k ₁ ·I _D <a·I _R(a>k ₁>1) (3).
The formula (3) is transformed to the following formula (4):
(k ₁ /a)·I _D =K ₁ ·I _D <I _R(K ₁<1) (4).
For this reason, if the parameter of the window width adjustment circuit 2310 is the output current
I _w =K ₁ ·I _D ,I _w <I _R (5),
when the relationship represented by of the formula (5) is satisfied, it can be determined that the upper limit is satisfied.

[Determination of Lower Limit]

As shown in FIG. 6, suppose that the following formula (6) satisfies the upper limit:
B·I _DI <k ₂ ·I _D′(1>k ₂ >b>0) (6).
Similarly, if it is supposed that the output current I_Rof the replica DAC is equal to I_DI(that is, I_R=I_DI), the formula (6) can be replaced by the following formula (7):
b·I _R <k ₂ ·I _D′(1>k ₂ >b>0) (7).
The formula (7) is transformed to the following formula (8):
I _R<(k ₂ /b)·I _D ′=K ₂ ·I _D′(K ₂>1) (8).
For this reason, if the parameter of the window width adjustment circuit 2310 is the output current I_w′=K₂·I_D′,
I_R<I_w′ (9),
when the relationship represented by the formula (9) is satisfied, it can be determined that the lower limit is satisfied.
FIG. 7 shows the relationship between current and voltage in the window comparator 2300. In the determination of the upper limit, the current I_wadjusted so that the output current I_Dof the control DAC 2100 is reduced by the window width adjustment circuit 2310 and the output current I_Rof the replica DAC 2200 is in an equilibrium state at the current I. The voltage at a node Vc at this point is taken as V₁. In the determination of the lower limit, the current I_w′ adjusted so that the output current I_D′ of the control DAC 2100 is increased by the window width adjustment circuit 2310 and the output current I_Rof the replica DAC 2200 is in an equilibrium state at the current I′. The voltage at a node Vc at this point is taken as V₂.
The window comparator 2300 determines whether the output current I_Rof the replica DAC and the currents I_wand I_w′ corresponding to the upper and the lower limit respectively have the relationship shown in FIG. 7. The OR circuit in the determination circuit 2300 functions as an inverter if the test enable TE is Low and compares the voltage appearing at the node Vc with a logic threshold voltage V_THof the OR circuit. If the currents I_R, I_w, and I_w′ have the relationship shown in FIG. 7, in the determination of the upper limit, the node Vc=V₁<V_TH, so that the determination result becomes “Low.” In the determination of the lower limit, the node Vc=V₂>V_TH, so that the determination result becomes “High.” If the above determination results appear in the determination of the upper and the lower limit, it is determined that the unit current source M1 of the control DAC 2100 is normally operated. At this point, the determination of the unit current source M1 is completed and then the determination of the unit current source M2 is started. Thus, the test of the control DAC is digitally determined to produce an effect in which a logic test of a general LSI test and an interface can be made common.
FIG. 8 shows an example of a configuration in which the control DAC of the delay control circuit existing in the same LSI is used as a replica DAC of a different delay control circuit. In the example of FIG. 8, a control DAC 2100 b for a variable delay circuit 100 b is used as a replica DAC for a control DAC 2100 a. A control DAC 2100 c for a variable delay circuit 100 c is used as a replica DAC for a control DAC 2100 b. A control DAC 2100 a for a variable delay circuit 100 a is used as a replica DAC for a control DAC 2100 c. The control DACs 2100 are similar in configuration to each other. A window comparator 6100 includes a window width adjustment circuit 6110, a determination circuit 6120, and a switch circuit 6130. Although the window width adjustment circuit 6110 is different in polarity from the window width adjustment circuit shown in FIG. 5, the window width adjustment circuit 6110 functions similarly therewith. In a test operation mode (the test enable TE is low), the switch circuit 6130 conducts to operate the window width adjustment circuit 6110. In a normal operation mode (the test enable TE is high), the switch circuit 6130 does not conduct, causing the window width adjustment circuit 6110 not to operate.
The unit current source of the control DAC 2100 a is tested such that the electric potential at the node V_c1determined by the amount of current in which the current flowing into the control. DAC 2100 a is adjusted for the upper/lower determination by the window width adjustment circuit 6110 a and the amount of current flowing into the control. DAC 2100 c (the replica DAC) is determined by a determination circuit 6120 a. The unit current source of the control DAC 2100 b is tested such that the electric potential at the node V_c2determined by the amount of current in which the current flowing into the control DAC 2100 b is adjusted for the upper/lower determination by the window width adjustment circuit 6110 b and the amount of current flowing into the control DAC 2100 b (the replica DAC) is determined by a determination circuit 6120 b. The unit current source of the control DAC 2100 c is tested such that the electric potential at the node V₃determined by the amount of current in which the current flowing into the control DAC 2100 c is adjusted for the upper/lower determination by the window width adjustment circuit 6110 c and the amount of current flowing into the control DAC 2100 b (the replica DAC) is determined by determination circuit 6120 c. An example where unit current sources M61, M71, and M81 are tested is described below. Control signals DC3_a, DC3_b, and DC3_c are rendered to be high to cause the transistors M62, M72, and M82 to conduct. Other control signals DC1 and DC2 are rendered to be low to cause current to flow into the control DACs 2100 a to 2100 c according to the unit current sources M61, M71, and M81 respectively. Thus, the unit current source of the control DAC 2100 is tested.
Thus, the control DAC with the same configuration regarded as the replica DAC is used to allow preventing the area overhead of the test circuit from being increased. In the example of FIG. 8, although three control DACs are used, the present invention is not limited to this number.
FIG. 9 shows an example of a configuration in which the determination results of a plurality of the variable delay circuits are collectively output and determined. In FIG. 9, the delay control circuit 150 corresponding to one variable delay circuit 100 and the test circuits thereof are referred to as one test unit.
In this example, there are included an AND circuit 4400, an OR circuit 4500, and a selector 4600 to which determination results are inputted from the window comparators 2300 of a plurality of test units 4000 and a selector 4700 for selecting outputs of the AND circuit 4400, the OR circuit 4500, and the selector 4600.
As a description is made in relation to FIG. 7, the output of the window comparator 2300 being Low in the determination of the upper limit of the unit current source and the output of the window comparator 2300 being High in the determination of the lower limit of the unit current source are an expected value in a normal operation mode. In the determination of the upper limit of the unit current source, the selector 4700 selects the OR circuit 4500. If even one High output exists in the determination result from the test unit, the output result becomes High, so that it can be determined that the test unit deviating from the expected value exists. On the other hand, in the determination of the lower limit of the unit current source, the selector 4700 selects the AND circuit 4400. If even one Low output exists in the determination result from the test unit, the output result becomes Low, so that it can be determined that the test unit deviating from the expected value exists.
The selector 4600 is used when the determination result is separately output from each test unit as a debug mode if the integrated determination result is not obtained as expected from the selector 4700.
It is needless to say that the number of the test units is not limited to four. Each test unit may use the configuration shown in FIG. 5 or 8.
FIG. 10 is an example of configuration for increasing a test accuracy, in which a current switch is used. A MOS transistor increases in a production dispersion along with the miniaturization thereof, which disperses the characteristics thereof. The influence of the dispersion can be reduced by increasing the gate length (Lg) of the MOS transistor. A transistor M31 forming a current source 5100 for supplying a control voltage to the variable delay circuit 100 in a normal operation mode is formed of a miniaturized MOS transistor matched to a transistor in the variable delay circuit 100. This is because a small change in current in a saturation area is desired to improve sensitivity at the time of comparing current. For this reason, the transistor M31 is configured with the gate length equal to that of the MOS transistor forming the variable delay circuit 100. In FIG. 5, the power supply NMOS (the transistors M11, M12, and M13 of the replica DAC 2200) and the power supply PMOS (the transistors M23, M24, and M25 of the window width adjustment circuit 2310) correspond to the above. On the other hand, a MOS transistor shows a great change in current in the saturation area along with the miniaturization thereof. It is desirable that a change in current in the saturation area is small as the MOS transistor of the window comparator 2300, which may worsen sensitivity. A current source M32 greater in size, that is to say, greater in a gate length (Lg) than the transistor M31 of a current source 5100 receiving the output of the control DAC used in the normal operation mode is used at the time of test to use the power supply excellent in characteristic, improving the determination accuracy of the determination circuit.
The configuration of FIG. 10 is different from that of FIG. 5 in that the output current of the replica DAC 2200 is switched between the upper limit determination and the lower limit determination by a window width adjustment circuit 5210. It can be determined whether the unit current source is normally operated based on the same principle as those of FIGS. 6 and 7.
In the example of the present configuration, a current switching circuit receiving the test enable TE is provided. In a normal operation mode, that is to say, in the case where the test enable TE is High, the transistors M43 and M44 conduct to output a delay control signal according to the delay control signal DC. On the other hand, the transistors M41 and M42 are caused not to conduct.
At the time of test, the test enable TE is rendered to be Low to cause the transistors M43 and M44 not to conduct and the transistors M41 and M42 to conduct. Thereby, the voltage at the node V_cdetermined by the magnitude relation between the output current I_Xobtained by switching the mirror output current I_RMof the replica DAC 2200 by the window width adjustment circuit 5210 and the mirror output current I_RMof the control DAC 2100 is determined by the determination circuit 5220 and the determination result is outputted.
The invention made by the inventors is described above based on the embodiments. It is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments and various changes may be made without departing from the sprit and scope of the present invention. FIG. 11 shows an example of configuration of the variable delay circuit 100 and the delay control circuit 150. The delay control circuit 150 controls the delay of the variable delay circuit 100 by controlling the ON resistance of the NMOS transistor M51 provided between the delay element 6000 and the reference electric potential and the PMOS transistor M52 provided between the delay element 6000 and the power supply electric potential.
The present invention is applicable not only to a circuit having either the variable delay circuit or the DAC, but to a circuit having both the variable delay circuit and the DAC. The output of the variable delay circuit may be output by fine adjusting the clock signal coarse adjusted by a first variable delay circuit by a second variable delay circuit instead of outputting the output of the variable delay circuit, as it is. It is to be understood that the DAC to which the test circuit described in the embodiments can be applied is not limited to the DAC used for the delay control circuit.

Claims

1. A semiconductor integrated circuit comprising:

a variable delay circuit; and

a test circuit for the variable delay circuit;

wherein the test circuit forms a ring oscillator using the variable delay circuit, causes the ring oscillator to oscillate at the time of test operation and determines whether the variable delay circuit is normal or abnormal depending on whether the ring oscillator satisfies predetermined monotonic increase and linearity conditions.

2. The semiconductor integrated circuit according to claim 1, wherein the test circuit stores a first count value of the ring oscillator at a first time and a second count value of the ring oscillator at a second time after a predetermined time elapsed from the first time and determines that the ring oscillator satisfies the monotonic increase condition when the relation of the first count value<the second count value is satisfied.

3. The semiconductor integrated circuit according to claim 1, wherein the test circuit stores a first count value of the ring oscillator at a first time, a second count value of the ring oscillator at a second time after a predetermined time elapsed from the first time and a third count value of the ring oscillator at a third time after a predetermined time elapsed from the second time and determines that the ring oscillator satisfies the linearity condition if a deviation between the third count value and an expected count value at the third time expected from the second count value and the increment of count value of the ring oscillator at the first to the second time falls within a predetermined range.

4. A semiconductor integrated circuit comprising:

a first variable delay circuit;

a first switching circuit configured to switch an input to the first variable delay circuit by an external input and an output from the first switching circuit;

a ring oscillator counter configured to count the output of a ring oscillator formed by the first switching circuit selecting the output from the first variable delay circuit and output a count value at a predetermined timing;

a first register configured to store the count value preceding by one count value output by the ring oscillator counter; and

a second register configured to predict an expected count value which the ring oscillator counter is expected to output from the past count value of the ring oscillator counter and store the expected count value;

wherein the count value output by the ring oscillator is compared with the count value stored into the first register and the expected count value stored into the second register to determine whether the first variable delay circuit is normal or abnormal.

5. The semiconductor integrated circuit according to claim 4, wherein if the count value output by the ring oscillator is greater than the count value stored into the first register and a deviation between the count value output by the ring oscillator and the expected count value is equal to or smaller than a predetermined value, it is determined that the first variable delay circuit is normal.

6. The semiconductor integrated circuit according to claim 4, further comprising:

a second variable delay circuit; and

a second switching circuit configured to switch an input to the second variable delay circuit by an external input and outputs from the first and the second variable delay circuit;

wherein the first switching circuit is configured to enable selecting the output of the second variable delay circuit and the ring oscillator counter counts the output of a ring oscillator including the first and the second variable delay circuit when the first switching circuit selects an output from the second variable delay circuit and the second switching circuit selects an output from the first variable delay circuit.

7. The semiconductor integrated circuit according to claim 6, wherein the delay of the first variable delay circuit and the delay of the second variable delay circuit are complementarily changed to determine whether the variable delay circuit is normal or abnormal.

8. A semiconductor integrated circuit comprising:

a first variable delay circuit;

a first delay control circuit including a first digital analog conversion circuit configured to convert a digital signal to the amount of current and controlling the delay of the first variable delay circuit by voltage according to the amount of current; and

a first test circuit for the first delay control circuit;

wherein the first digital analog conversion circuit includes a plurality of unit current sources selected according to the value of a digital signal and the first test circuit determines that the value of a current flowing into each of the plurality of the unit current sources falls within a predetermined range to determine whether the first delay control circuit is normal or abnormal.

9. The semiconductor integrated circuit according to claim 8, further comprising:

a second variable delay circuit;

a second delay control circuit including a second digital analog conversion circuit configured to convert a digital signal to the amount of current and controlling the delay of the second variable delay circuit by voltage according to the amount of current; and

a second test circuit for the second delay control circuit;

wherein the second digital analog conversion circuit includes a plurality of unit current sources selected according to the value of a digital signal and the second test circuit determines whether the value of a current flowing into each of the plurality of the unit current sources falls within a predetermined range to determine whether the second delay control circuit is normal or abnormal.

10. The semiconductor integrated circuit according to claim 9, wherein the determination results of the first and the second delay control circuit are outputted with the determination results integrated.

11. The semiconductor integrated circuit according to claim 9,

wherein the first test circuit includes a current adjustment circuit configured to increase or decrease the amount of current of the second digital analog conversion circuit by a predetermined amount, and

wherein the amount of current flowing into the first digital analog conversion is compared with a first amount of current in which the amount of current flowing into the second digital analog conversion is increased by the current adjustment circuit by a predetermined amount and a second amount of current in which the amount of current flowing into the second digital analog conversion is decreased by the current adjustment circuit by a predetermined amount to determine whether the value of current flowing into the unit current source falls within a predetermined range.

12. The semiconductor integrated circuit according to claim 9,

wherein the first test circuit includes a current adjustment circuit configured to increase or decrease the amount of current of the first digital analog conversion circuit by a predetermined amount, and

wherein the amount of current flowing into the second digital analog conversion is compared with a first amount of current in which the amount of current flowing into the first digital analog conversion is increased by the current adjustment circuit by a predetermined amount and a second amount of current in which the amount of current flowing into the first digital analog conversion is decreased by the current adjustment circuit by a predetermined amount to determine whether the value of current flowing into the unit current source falls within a predetermined range.

13. The semiconductor integrated circuit according to claim 8,

wherein the first test circuit includes a third digital analog conversion circuit configured to convert a digital signal to the amount of current and a current adjustment circuit configured to increase or decrease the amount of current of the third digital analog conversion circuit by a predetermined amount, and

wherein the amount of current flowing into the first digital analog conversion is compared with a first amount of current in which the amount of current flowing into the third digital analog conversion is increased by the current adjustment circuit by a predetermined amount and a second amount of current in which the amount of current flowing into the second digital analog conversion is decreased by the current adjustment circuit by a predetermined amount to determine whether the value of current flowing into the unit current source falls within a predetermined range.

14. The semiconductor integrated circuit according to claim 8,

wherein the first test circuit includes a third digital analog conversion circuit configured to convert a digital signal to the amount of current and a current adjustment circuit configured to increase or decrease the amount of current of the first digital analog conversion circuit by a predetermined amount, and

wherein the amount of current flowing into the third digital analog conversion is compared with a first amount of current in which the amount of current flowing into the first digital analog conversion is increased by the current adjustment circuit by a predetermined amount and a second amount of current in which the amount of current flowing into the first digital analog conversion is decreased by the current adjustment circuit by a predetermined amount to determine whether the value of current flowing into the unit current source falls within a predetermined range.