Patents by Inventor Daniel E. Fulton

Daniel E. Fulton has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 6627917
    Abstract: Methods and apparatus for burn-in of integrated circuit (IC) dies at the wafer level. In one embodiment, a wafer is fabricated having an array of dies formed thereon wherein the dies are separated by scribe areas. Surrounding each die is one or more ring conductors which are electrically coupled to various circuits on the die via die bond pads. The wafer further includes a series of conductive pads located in an inactive region of the wafer. Electrically connecting the conductive pads to the ring conductors is a series of redundant scribe conductors. During burn-in, a burn-in indicating apparatus located on each die monitors burn-in parameters such as elapsed burn-in time. The indicating apparatus further records the elapsed burn-in time (or other parameter). The indicating apparatus may be subsequently interrogated to verify the burn-in time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 25, 2000
    Date of Patent: September 30, 2003
    Assignee: Medtronic, Inc.
    Inventors: Andreas A. Fenner, Lary R. Larson, Paul F. Gerrish, Daniel E. Fulton, James W. Bell, James Thomas May