Abstract: A process for manufacturing a semiconductor device having metal interconnects reduces or eliminates the recessing of metal in the vias, particularly when the metal in the vias is aluminum or an aluminum alloy. The process includes forming a via in a device layer of the semiconductor device. A barrier layer is formed over the device layer and a metal layer is formed over the barrier layer. The metal layer also fills the via to form a via structure. A portion of the metal layer is then removed and a remaining portion of the metal layer forms a conductive structure having a sidewall extending from a surface of the barrier layer. A spacer is formed along the sidewall of the conductive structure and a portion of the barrier layer is removed using the spacer to protect the via structure adjacent the surface of the device layer. In particular, the spacer protects a portion of the via structure that does not overlap with the conductive structure.

Abstract: A microprocessor circuit arrangement is capable of retrieving and executing program instructions from a program memory having one of multiple possible bit-widths using address signals. A microprocessor uses a set of program instructions to select a memory configuration for retrieving the program instructions. The program memory stores the set of program instructions such that the microprocessor can retrieve the set of program instructions regardless of which bit-width is used to store the set of program instructions. Additional circuitry maps the address signals for retrieving the program instructions from the program memory.

Abstract: A semiconductor structure with a heavily doped buried breakdown region and a method for manufacture. A source region is disposed in a substrate and is doped with dopant of a type opposite that of the substrate. A drain region is disposed in the substrate at the surface and doped with dopant which is the same as that of the source region, and a gate structure is disposed on the substrate between the source and drain regions. A breakdown region is disposed in the substrate below the drain region and is heavily doped with dopant of a type opposite that of the drain region in order to control the value and location of breakdown.

Abstract: The performance of the main regulatory transistor of an on-chip voltage regulator circuit is enhanced when the main transistor is appropriately biased during start up. In an example embodiment, a voltage regulator circuit includes a thin gate oxide transistor as the main regulatory transistor and an operational amplifier that is referenced to a midlevel operating voltage. During start-up, the potential voltage difference is large enough to necessitate the disconnection of the main transistor from the operational amplifier. A voltage divider ladder circuit is used to maintain the gate voltage of the main transistor at the midlevel voltage while a smaller thick gate oxide transistor is used to maintain loop stability and to withstand voltage transients.

Abstract: The stress dislocations formed in a substrate by semiconductor processing are significantly reduced, if not eliminated, by subjecting the substrate to a high temperature post sacrificial oxide anneal that causes viscous flow of the oxide over the substrate. In one example embodiment, a method of forming a semiconductor structure includes forming a first oxide layer over a substrate and forming a first dielectric material layer over the first oxide layer. An opening is then etched in the oxide and dielectric layers thereby exposing the substrate. A trench is formed with a desired depth in the substrate in the opening provided, followed by a deposition of an insulator material in the trench. The first dielectric layer and a portion of the insulator material is then removed leaving a portion of the insulator material within the trench. Applications include logic circuits having embedded-DRAM and circuits directed to stand-alone logic or stand-alone DRAM.

Abstract: A method for making a multi-layered integrated circuit structure, includes depositing a methyl doped silicon oxide layer over a substrate. SiO2 skin is deposited on the methyl doped silicon oxide layer by decreasing the flow of CH3SiH3, increasing the flow of SiH4 and keeping the flow of H2O2 constant for a period of time. Finally, a cap layer is deposited which adheres to the SiO2 skin.

Abstract: Method for introducing harmonics into an audio stream for improving three dimensional audio positioning. The method adds high frequency harmonics into sampled sound signals to replace high frequency sound components eliminated before sampling. By adding high frequency harmonics into the sampled sound signals, a “richer sound” will be produced. The resulting sampled sound signals will have a frequency spectrum containing a larger number of frequencies. Thus, the ear will have more cues to better position the sampled sound signals.

Abstract: An improved gate electrode provides greater tolerances to higher temperature annealing treatments, and is useful in connection with the formation of self-aligned contacts as are needed for high density embedded DRAM applications. Consistent with one embodiment, a process for manufacturing a polycide transistor gate electrode involves forming a cap dielectric and dielectric spacer, with the electrode exhibiting a reduced diffusion transport of dopants between an underlying doped polysilicon layer and an overlying silicide layer. The reduced transport results from the presence of a thin barrier layer between the doped polysilicon layer and silicide layer, and the gate electrode process forms a thermally-oxidized thin polysilicon side-wall film against the polysilicon layer, the barrier layer, the silicide layer, and the cap dielectric layer. The polysilicon side-wall film is used for blocking substantial oxidation of the barrier film.

Abstract: A system and method for accelerating information transfers from an encrypted memory to a requesting device in a system utilizing a decryption engine is provided. The decryption engine fetches and decrypts a first information block having a greater byte count than the number of bytes of requested information. A current address, corresponding to a storage device address of the decrypted first information block residing at the output of the decryption engine, is compared to a requested address. The requested address corresponds to a storage device address of a second information block of which the requested information is a subset thereof. The second information block has a byte count equivalent to the byte count of the first information block which was decrypted by the decryption engine. A new block fetch of encrypted information from the encrypted storage device is initiated when the current address and the requested address are unequal.

Abstract: An improved memory addressing system has a CPU having both an address bus and a multiplexed data/address bus. A reduced PIN out companion chip is coupled to the multiplexed data/address bus for decoding data and low order address information. Memory storage is coupled to a high order address bus for receiving a high order address from the CPU, and to the low order address bus and data bus for receiving decoded low order address and data information from the companion chip.

Abstract: An improved system and method to ensure the testability of any analog cell embedded in a mixed signal IC is described wherein the testability is independent of the core logic of that IC, which does not require the dedication of any pin solely to the testing of that IC. A uniform analog test access port design simplifies chip layout, greatly reduces the nunber of MUXed pins required, and allows generation of an analog test program for the total chip which is a simple concatenation and re-use of the individual analog cell test programs.

Abstract: A semiconductor structure uses a shallow trench isolation (STI) region to realize a capacitor trench of a reduced size. Consistent with one embodiment of fabricating a memory cell, the invention includes selectively removing portions of a substrate using a patterned mask to form a capacitor trench and an isolation trench at least partially around the capacitor trench. An oxide is formed in the isolation trench and the capacitor trench, and the oxide is selectively removed in the capacitor trench. Portions of the substrate defining the base and sidewalls of the capacitor trench are then doped and a capacitor dielectric is formed in the capacitor trench, leaving a portion of the trench unfilled. A polysilicon layer is formed it the unfilled portion of the capacitor trench and over the capacitor dielectric to form a plate of the storage capacitor.

Abstract: An improved Integrated Circuit (IC) device is delineated comprising, in combination, an IC including an embedded Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an embedded Random Access Memory (RAM), an embedded Read Only Memory (ROM) having at least one portion thereof which is flawed and embedded patching circuitry having as inputs the current DSP program address and at least one break address wherein each break address corresponds to a separate flawed portion of the embedded ROM. The patching circuitry supplies data stored in flawless portions of the ROM to the DSP until the current DSP program address matches a break address indicating that the next portion of the embedded ROM is flawed. In place of the data stored in the flawed portion of the embedded ROM, the patching circuitry supplies corrected data stored in the embedded RAM to the DSP, and after this corrected data is supplied, data transfer to the DSP from the remaining unflawed portions of the embedded ROM is resumed.

Abstract: A method and arrangement passes data between two busses without needing conventional bridge-interface protocols. Consistent with one method embodiment of the present invention, data is passed between a first bus on a reference chip and an external bus using a two-way buffer arrangement between the external bus and the first bus. The method includes coupling a two-way buffer arrangement between the external bus and the first bus, determining which of the busses is the initiating bus, and in response to this determination, controlling the two-way buffer arrangement to asynchronously copy data through the two-way buffer arrangement from the initiating bus to the other bus, wherein data is passed automatically in response to its presence at the buffer arrangement without any clock cycle delays. An example application is directed to interfacing with a bus used for a rapid silicon processing chip.

Abstract: A small-area, high-resistance load device is fabricated in the same area used for the shallow trench isolation region. In an example embodiment, the load device comprises a series resistor coupled to a poly-silicon diode. In one example application, the load device acts as a pull-up device replacing standard PMOS pull-up loads used in connection with static memory cells, thereby increasing the cell density of a static memory array.

Abstract: High-speed multiplication and exponentiation are performed by performing a modulus multiplication operation on received operands. A memory stores the operands and intermediate mathematical operation results of the modulus multiplication operation. A software-controllable, hardware state machine controls performance of the modulus multiplication operation according to a Montgomery multiplication algorithm.

Abstract: An integrated circuit with power conservation includes a number of functional blocks, each of which includes a digital circuitry and at least one output control line, and a power controller coupled to the control lines. The output control lines develop clock control signals based upon a functional block's knowledge of the direction of data flow. The power controller the reduces power by deactivating functional blocks that are not needed as indicated by the clock control signals. More specifically, a system with power conservation includes a number of functional blocks capable of processing data, each of the functional blocks including a modulated clock input and N+1 clock control lines which reflect the direction of data flow, where N is a number of neighbors of a particular functional block, and a clock controller having an input clock, the clock controller being coupled to the modulated clock inputs and the clock control lines of the functional blocks.