Patents by Inventor Joseph Michael Swenton

Joseph Michael Swenton 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: 11893336
    Abstract: An IC test engine generates a plurality of two-cycle delay test patterns that target a first set of multicycle faults and/or defects of a fabricated IC chip based on an IC design. Each two-cycle delay test pattern includes a scan-in shift window operating at a test clock frequency, and a capture window with a launch cycle and a capture cycle operating at a functional clock frequency. The IC test engine fault simulates the plurality of two-cycle delay test patterns against a second set of multicycle faults and/or defects in the IC design utilizing sim-shifting, such that a state of the IC design after at least a last two shift clock cycles of a scan-in shift in window of each two-cycle delay test pattern of the plurality of two-cycle delay test patterns are fault simulated to provide two fault initialization cycles for detection of a multicycle delay fault and/or defect.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 12, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 6, 2024
    Assignee: Cadence Design Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Arvind Chokhani, Joseph Michael Swenton, Martin Thomas Amodeo
  • Patent number: 11740284
    Abstract: An integrated circuit (IC) test engine generates single cycle test patterns for testing for candidate faults and/or defects of a first set of static faults and/or defects of an IC design. A diagnostics engine receives single cycle test result data characterizing application of the single cycle test patterns to a fabricated IC chip based on the IC design and fault-simulates a subset of the single cycle test patterns against a fault model that includes multicycle faults and/or defects utilizing sim-shifting to diagnose a second set of static faults and/or defects in the fabricated IC chip that are only detectable with multicycle test patterns. The diagnostics engine further scores candidate faults and/or defects in the first set of static faults and/or defects and the second set of static faults and/or defects for applicable test patterns to determine a most likely fault and/or defect present in the fabricated IC chip.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 2, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 29, 2023
    Assignee: Cadence Design Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Arvind Chokhani, Joseph Michael Swenton, Martin Thomas Amodeo
  • Patent number: 11579194
    Abstract: An integrated circuit (IC) test engine can generate a plurality of single cycle test patterns that target a plurality of static single cycle defects of a fabricated IC chip based on an IC design. The IC test engine can also fault simulate the plurality of single cycle test patterns against a plurality of multicycle defects in the IC design, wherein a given single cycle test pattern of the plurality of single cycle test patterns is sim-shifted to enable detection of a given multicycle fault and/or defect of the plurality of multicycle faults and/or defects.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 9, 2021
    Date of Patent: February 14, 2023
    Assignee: CADENCE DESIGN SYSTEMS, INC.
    Inventors: Arvind Chokhani, Joseph Michael Swenton, Martin Thomas Amodeo
  • Patent number: 11435401
    Abstract: A fault rules engine generates a plurality of fault rules files, each of the fault rules files is associated with a respective cell type of a plurality of cell types in an integrated circuit (IC) design. Each fault rules file includes data quantifying a nominal delay for a given two-cycle test pattern and data quantifying a delta delay for the given two-cycle test pattern corresponding to a given candidate defect of a plurality of candidate defects of a given cell type of the plurality of cell types in the IC design. An IC test engine extracts an input to output propagation delay for each cell instance from a standard delay format (SDF) file for the IC design and generates cell-aware test patterns for each cell instance of each cell type in the IC design based on the plurality of fault rules files and the extracted input to output propagation delays.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 22, 2021
    Date of Patent: September 6, 2022
    Assignee: CADENCE DESIGN SYSTEMS, INC.
    Inventors: Arvind Chokhani, Joseph Michael Swenton, Santosh Subhaschandra Malagi
  • Patent number: 11429776
    Abstract: A fault rules engine generates a plurality of fault rules files. Each of the fault rules files is associated with a respective cell type of a plurality of cell types in an integrated circuit (IC) design, and each fault rules file of the plurality of fault rules files can include data quantifying a nominal delay for a given two-cycle test pattern of a set of two-cycle test patterns and data quantifying a delta delay for the given two-cycle test pattern corresponding to a given candidate defect of a plurality of candidate defects for a given cell type in the IC design. An IC test engine generates cell-aware test patterns based on the plurality of fault rules files to test a fabricated IC chip that is based on the IC design for defects corresponding to a subset of the plurality of candidate defects characterized in the plurality of fault rules files.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 22, 2021
    Date of Patent: August 30, 2022
    Assignee: CADENCE DESIGN SYSTEMS, INC.
    Inventors: Arvind Chokhani, Joseph Michael Swenton, Santosh Subhaschandra Malagi
  • Patent number: 10338137
    Abstract: A method for defect identification for an integrated circuit includes determining a defect ranking technique, applying at least two defect identification techniques and generating a defect report corresponding to each technique, comparing the defect reports and generating probable defect locations, prioritizing the probable defect locations according to the defect ranking technique; and generating a report of the prioritized probable defect locations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 20, 2016
    Date of Patent: July 2, 2019
    Assignee: CADENCE DESIGN SYSTEMS, INC.
    Inventors: Sameer Chakravarthy Chillarige, Anil Malik, Sharjinder Singh, Joseph Michael Swenton
  • Patent number: 10180457
    Abstract: The present disclosure relates to a system and method for performing scan chain diagnosis of an electronic design. The method may include identifying, at a computing device, at least one failing scan chain associated with the electronic design. The method may also include selecting a plurality of defect locations associated with the at least one failing scan chain, wherein the plurality of defect locations corresponds to a number of parallel patterns that a simulator is configured to process. The method may further include selecting a sliced failing pattern set and generating a plurality of copies of a pattern associated with the sliced failing pattern set, wherein each of the plurality of copies corresponds to one of the plurality of defect locations. The method may also include simulating the plurality of copies of the pattern in parallel.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 4, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 15, 2019
    Assignee: Cadence Design Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Sameer Chakravarthy Chillarige, Sharjinder Singh, Anil Malik, Joseph Michael Swenton
  • Patent number: 10060976
    Abstract: Systems and methods disclosed herein provide for automatically diagnosing mis-compares detected during simulation of Automatic Test Pattern Generation (“ATPG”) generated test patterns. Embodiments of the systems and methods provide for determining the origin of a mis-compare based on an analysis of the generated test patterns with a structural simulator and a behavioral simulator.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 10, 2016
    Date of Patent: August 28, 2018
    Assignee: CADENCE DESIGN SYSTEMS, INC.
    Inventors: Sharjinder Singh, Sameer Chakravarthy Chillarige, Robert Jordan Asher, Sonam Kathpalia, Patrick Wayne Gallagher, Joseph Michael Swenton
  • Patent number: 9864004
    Abstract: Embodiments for diagnosing failure locations in one or more electronic circuits. Embodiments may include generating a plurality of core instances of at least one core, for each electronic circuit, with one or more outputs and compressing the outputs of each instance into primary output pins based upon compression equations. Embodiments may include applying test patterns to the plurality of core instances and identifying failures based upon compressed test patterns received at the primary output pins. Embodiments may include performing fault selection on a single core instance for each failure associated with the plurality of core instances and performing fault simulations on the single core instance for each candidate faults associated with the plurality of core instances. Embodiments may include generating fault signatures for each detected fault based upon the instances associated with each detected fault and analyzing each fault signature to determine failure locations.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 2016
    Date of Patent: January 9, 2018
    Assignee: Cadence Design Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Sameer Chakravarthy Chillarige, Brion L. Keller, Joseph Michael Swenton, Sharjinder Singh, Anil Malik
  • Patent number: 8402421
    Abstract: A method and system for subnet defect diagnostics through fault compositing is disclosed. A testing apparatus generates callout data for an integrated circuit device under test. A computer received the callout data, which includes a list of faults. Each fault of the list of faults has associated with it one or more failures and/or conflicts. In order to explain the failures, two or more faults are selected and composited, yielding a composite fault having a composite conflict count. The composite fault is assigned a score based on the composite conflict count, which score determines a candidate composite that best explains the faults of the list of faults. This procedure may be repeated to explain all the failures.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 12, 2010
    Date of Patent: March 19, 2013
    Assignee: Cadence Design Systems, Inc.
    Inventors: Thomas Webster Bartenstein, Joseph Michael Swenton
  • Patent number: 8190953
    Abstract: A method and system for test vector selection in statistical volume diagnosis using failed test data is disclosed. A computer-implemented method receives failures representing defects detected by an integrated circuit testing apparatus from a plurality of integrated circuits. Each of the plurality of integrated circuits is tested with a set of test vectors generated by the integrated circuit testing apparatus, and each of the plurality of failures is associated with a failed test vector. Using a first ranking scheme, each of the failures is given a rank and the corresponding failed test vector in each of the plurality of integrated circuits is annotated with the rank. The annotated failed test vectors are grouped using a grouping scheme, and each of the groups is given a group rank. A first group of failed test vectors is selected based on the group rank and diagnostics is run on the first group of failed test vectors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 3, 2008
    Date of Patent: May 29, 2012
    Inventors: Sameer H. Chakravarthy, Ratan Deep H. Singh, Thomas Webster Bartenstein, Joseph Michael Swenton, Shaleen Bhabu
  • Publication number: 20120089872
    Abstract: A method and system for subnet defect diagnostics through fault compositing is disclosed. Each fault contained in callout data comprises explain failure data and conflict counts. A first fault on a fan-out sink of a fan-out net that explains a first failure is selected from the callout data. A second fault on a different sink of the same fan-out net that explains a second failure that the first fault does not explain is selected. The first fault and the second fault are composited to yield a composite fault. The composite fault unions the failures explained by the first fault with the failures explained by the second fault. A composite conflict count is generated by combining the conflict count of the first fault and the conflict count of the second fault, and a score is assigned to the composite fault. A best candidate composite fault is determined based on the score.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 12, 2010
    Publication date: April 12, 2012
    Inventors: Thomas Webster Bartenstein, Joseph Michael Swenton
  • Publication number: 20100088560
    Abstract: A method and system for test vector selection in statistical volume diagnosis using failed test data is disclosed. A computer-implemented method receives failures representing defects detected by an integrated circuit testing apparatus from a plurality of integrated circuits. Each of the plurality of integrated circuits is tested with a set of test vectors generated by the integrated circuit testing apparatus, and each of the plurality of failures is associated with a failed test vector. Using a first ranking scheme, each of the failures is given a rank and the corresponding failed test vector in each of the plurality of integrated circuits is annotated with the rank. The annotated failed test vectors are grouped using a grouping scheme, and each of the groups is given a group rank. A first group of failed test vectors is selected based on the group rank and diagnostics is run on the first group of tailed test vectors.
    Type: Application
    Filed: October 3, 2008
    Publication date: April 8, 2010
    Inventors: Sameer H. Chakravarthy, Ratan Deep H. Singh, Thomas Webster Bartenstein, Joseph Michael Swenton, Shaleen Bhabu