Use of the effect of phase error accumulation in ring oscillators to estimate time parameters of digital elements of integrated circuits

Abstract

A novel approach to determining time parameters of digital library IC elements with the use of built-in digital measuring modules arranged on the test chip is offered. It is shown that using the phase error accumulation methodology in ring oscillators with the investigated elements makes it possible to measure the averaged rising and falling delays of signals with picosecond accuracy. Use of digital elements will allow us to provide a technology-independent solution when one manufacturing method used at a plant changes to another one without modifying the circuits of the measurement module and the measuring technique.