The present disclosure claims priority to the Chinese Patent Application No. 202010167247.8, filed on Mar. 11, 2020, and entitled “TEST METHOD FOR CONTROL CHIP AND RELATED DEVICE”, all content of which is incorporated in its entirety by reference herein.
The present disclosure relates to the field of semiconductor device test technology, and specifically, to a test method for a control chip and a related device.
As process sizes of semiconductors keep decreasing, the scale of integrated circuit (IC) design becomes increasingly large. Highly complex IC products are facing growing challenges such as high reliability, high quality, low costs, and short time to market. In one aspect, as process sizes of semiconductors decrease, memories are prone to more types of defects. In another aspect, as the complexity of IC products increases, more and more memories such as random-access memories (RAMs) are used in IC products.
A control chip (for example, a base die/logic die, or the like) in a storage device (for example, a dynamic random-access memory (DRAM)) includes a large number of circuits used for implementing various control logics, for example, digital circuits such as an AND gate, a NAND gate, a NOT gate and an XOR gate, and other analog circuits. Therefore, to test whether the control chip can correctly perform these control logics, a large number of test vectors are required.
As shown in
A direct access (DA) pad in
It needs to be noted that the information disclosed in the foregoing Background part is only used for better understanding of the background of the present disclosure, and therefore may include information that does not constitute the prior art known to a person of ordinary skill in the art.
An objective of the present disclosure is to provide a test method for a control chip and a related device to overcome the foregoing deficiencies the prior art, such as the technical problem in the related art that an ATE tester has a limited memory space and cannot store once a large number of test vectors used for testing a control chip.
An embodiment of the present disclosure provides a test method for a control chip. The method includes: reading first test vectors stored in a first target memory chip; sending the first test vectors to the control chip; receiving first output information returned by the control chip in response to the first test vectors; and acquiring a first test result of the control chip based on the first output information and the first test vectors corresponding to the first output information.
In some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, the control chip and the first target memory chip belong to the same storage device.
In some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, the first target memory chip is vertically stacked on or under the control chip.
In some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, the control chip belongs to a second target memory chip, and the first target memory chip and the second target memory chip are of the same type or different types.
In some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, the method further includes: reading second test vectors stored in ATE; sending the second test vectors to the control chip; receiving second output information returned by the control chip in response to the second test vectors; and acquiring a second test result of the control chip based on the second output information and the second test vectors corresponding to the second output information.
In some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, the method further includes: sending the first test result of the control chip to a third target memory chip for storage.
In some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, the method further includes: sending a first control instruction to the third target memory chip when the test of the control chip is completed; and receiving the first test result of the control chip returned by the third target memory chip in response to the first control instruction.
In some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, the control chip, the first target memory chip, and the third target memory chip belong to the same storage device.
In some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, the first target memory chip and the third target memory chip are vertically stacked in sequence on or under the control chip.
In some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, the control chip belongs to a second target memory chip, and the first target memory chip, the second target memory chip, and the third target memory chip are of the same type or different types.
In some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, the method further includes: acquiring test vectors used for testing the control chip; and storing, in response to a second control instruction, at least some of the test vectors used for testing the control chip as the first test vectors in the first target memory chip.
In some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, the method further includes: acquiring a current state of a fourth target memory chip; and storing at least other part of the test vectors used for testing the control chip in the fourth target memory chip if the current state of the fourth target memory chip is an idle state.
In some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, the method further includes: acquiring test vectors used for testing the control chip; and sending at least some of the test vectors used for testing the control chip as the first test vectors to the control chip, to determine the first target memory chip by using the control chip, and sending the first test vectors to the first target memory chip for storage.
In some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, the method further includes: testing the first target memory chip; and repairing the first target memory chip if the first target memory chip fails the test.
In some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, the method is performed by ATE.
An embodiment of the present disclosure provides a test apparatus for a control chip. The apparatus includes: a first test vector reading unit, configured to read first test vectors stored in a first target memory chip; a first test vector sending unit, configured to send the first test vectors to the control chip; a first output information receiving unit, configured to receive first output information returned by the control chip in response to the first test vectors; and a first test result acquiring unit, configured to acquire a first test result of the control chip based on the first output information and the first test vectors corresponding to the first output information.
An embodiment of the present disclosure provides an electronic device, including: one or more processors; and a storage apparatus, configured to store one or more programs, where the one or more programs, when performed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to implement the method in the foregoing embodiments.
An embodiment of the present disclosure provides a computer-readable storage medium, storing a computer program, where the program is executed by a processor to implement the method in the foregoing embodiments.
For the test method and apparatus for a control chip, the electronic device, and the computer-readable storage medium provided in some embodiments of the present disclosure, a first target memory chip other than ATE can be used for storing first test vectors used for testing the control chip, so that a storage space for test vectors can be enlarged, and a large number of test vectors used for testing the control chip can be all loaded once. In this way, during the test of the control chip, the test speed of the control chip can be increased, the test efficiency can be increased, and the test costs can be reduced.
It should be understood that the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are only exemplary and explanatory, and cannot limit the present disclosure.
The accompanying drawings are incorporated in the specification and constitute a part of the specification, show embodiments conforming to the present disclosure, and are used together with the specification to explain the principle of the present disclosure. Apparently, the accompanying drawings in the following description show only some embodiments of the present disclosure, and a person of ordinary skill in the art may still derive other drawings from these accompanying drawings without creative efforts.
Now exemplary embodiments will be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the exemplary embodiments can be implemented in various ways and shall not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided to make the present disclosure full and complete, and fully convey the concept of the exemplary embodiments to those skilled in the art. Like reference numerals through the drawings denote the same or similar structures, and thus their detailed description will be omitted. In addition, the figures are only used for schematic illustration but are not necessarily drawn to scale.
Although relative terms such as “upper” and “lower” are used in the specification to describe the relative relationship of one component with respect to another component as shown in the figures, these terms are used in this specification only for convenience, for example, based on the exemplary directions shown in the figures. It is to be understood that if an apparatus shown in the figures is turned upside down, the described “upper” component will become a “lower” component. When a structure is “on” another structure, it may mean that the structure is integrally formed on the another structure, or that the structure is “directly” provided on the another structure, or that the structure is “indirectly” provided on the another structure via still another structure.
The terms “a”, “an”, “the”, “said”, and “at least one” are used to indicate the presence of one or more elements/components etc. The terms “include” and “have” are used to indicate the meaning including an opening inclusion and indicate that there may be other elements/components etc. in addition to the listed elements/components/etc. The terms “first” and “second” are only used as reference only, not as a restriction on the number of their subjects.
In an exemplary embodiment, the method may be performed by ATE. However, the present disclosure is not limited. In other embodiments, the method may be alternatively performed by a built-in self-test (BIST) circuit. The BIST circuit may be disposed in the control chip under test or may be disposed in a DRAM chip. The DRAM chip and the control chip under test may belong to the same storage device or may belong to different storage devices.
In step S210, first test vectors stored in a first target memory chip is read.
In this embodiment of the present disclosure, the first target memory chip may be a read-write memory chip of any type, such as a DRAM, a static random-access memory (SRAM), a Not AND (NAND, a flash memory device), or a Not OR (NOR, also a flash memory device). The first target memory chip may be a memory chip or some memory chips or all memory chips in a storage device, or may be a plurality of memory chips located on a plurality of different storage devices. These different storage devices may be of the same storage type or different storage types. For example, the storage devices may all be DRAMs or static dynamic random-access memories (SDRAMs). Alternatively, among the storage devices, some are DRAMs, some are SDRAMs, or some are nonvolatile memories such as NANDs and/or NORs. This is not limited in the present disclosure.
In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the control chip and the first target memory chip may belong to the same storage device.
In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the first target memory chip may be vertically stacked on or under the control chip.
In an exemplary embodiment, the first target memory chip may include a plurality of memory chips, the plurality of memory chips belong to the same storage device, and at the same time the control chip and the plurality of memory chips also belong to the same storage device. In some embodiments, a plurality of memory chips of the first target memory chip may be vertically stacked in sequence on the control chip. In some other embodiments, the plurality of memory chips of the first target memory chip may be vertically stacked in sequence under the control chip. In other embodiments, a plurality of memory chips of the first target memory chip may be vertically stacked in sequence. The plurality of memory chips vertically stacked in sequence may be horizontally interconnected to the control chip. In still other embodiments, the plurality of memory chips of the first target memory chip and the control chip may be horizontally distributed on the storage device. This is not limited in the present disclosure.
In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the control chip may belong to a second target memory chip, and the first target memory chip and the second target memory chip may be of the same type or different types. That is, the control chip under test and the second target memory chip may belong to the same storage device. The first target memory chip belongs to another storage device. The first target memory chip and the second target memory chip may belong to the same type. For example, the first target memory chip and the second target memory chip are both DRAM chips. Alternatively, the first target memory chip and the second target memory chip may belong to different types. For example, one of the first target memory chip and the second target memory chip is a DRAM chip, and the other thereof is an SDRAM chip.
In an exemplary embodiment, the method may further include: acquiring test vectors used for testing the control chip; and storing, in response to a second control instruction, at least some of the test vectors used for testing the control chip as the first test vectors in the first target memory chip.
For example, when performing the test method, the ATE may use a computer to generate, by using a test vector generation algorithm, various test vectors used for testing the control chip. The ATE then reads these test vectors from the computer. The ATE then sends some or all of the read test vectors to the first target memory chip for storage. Alternatively, the test vector generation algorithm may be embedded in the ATE. The ATE generates test vectors. When a plurality of memory chips of the storage device corresponding to the control chip respectively have independent lead-out pins, the ATE may directly use respective independent lead-out pins of various memory chips to respectively send the test vectors to idle memory chips for storage.
In an exemplary embodiment, the method may further include: acquiring a current state of a fourth target memory chip; and storing at least other part of the test vectors used for testing the control chip in the fourth target memory chip if the current state of the fourth target memory chip is an idle state.
Specifically, if a plurality of memory chips pass the test and can be normally used at the same time, states of the various memory chips may be saved. For example, current states of the various memory chips may be recorded. For example, if a memory chip has stored data (the data herein may be any data, test vectors used for testing the control chip, or other data), the state of the memory chip is labeled with “1”, indicating that the memory chip is in an occupied state. In this case, the test vectors used for testing the control chip are not stored in the memory chip. In contrast, if a memory chip currently has not stored any data, the state of the memory chip is labeled with “0”. In this case, the memory chip may be used as the fourth target memory chip to store some or all of the remaining test vectors. In this way, while the first test vectors stored in the first target memory chip are read, the remaining test vectors can be written in parallel into another idle fourth target memory chip, so that the test speed can be further increased and the test efficiency can be increased. The fourth target memory chip herein and the first target memory chip may belong to the same storage device or may belong to different storage devices.
In an exemplary embodiment, the method may further include: acquiring test vectors used for testing the control chip; and sending at least some of the test vectors used for testing the control chip as the first test vectors to the control chip, to determine the first target memory chip by using the control chip, and sending the first test vectors to the first target memory chip for storage.
For example, when lead-out pins of a plurality of memory chips in the storage device corresponding to the control chip are shared, which one or more of the plurality of memory chips the first test vectors are to be sent to need to be first determined. In this case, the ATE may also first send the acquired test vectors to the control chip. The control chip determines which memory chips are idle, and the received test vectors are then sent as the first test vectors to the idle memory chip for storage. In this way, the ATE only needs to use a small number of lead-out pins of the storage device to implement the storage of test vectors in a plurality of memory chips of the storage device without being limited to the number of peripheral pins of the storage device.
In an exemplary embodiment, the method may further include: testing the first target memory chip; and repairing the first target memory chip if the first target memory chip fails the test.
In this embodiment of the present disclosure, before the first test vectors are stored in the first target memory chip, it needs to be ensured that the first target memory chip can implement a correct storage function. Therefore, before this, the ATE may be first used to test the first target memory chip. When the first target memory chip passes the test, it indicates that the first target memory chip is intact, and in this case, the first test vectors may be stored in the first target memory chip. When the first target memory chip fails the test, for example, the ATE inputs known character strings formed by “0s” and/or “1s” and stores the character strings in storage units corresponding to various addresses in the first target memory chip; after a particular delay, these character strings are then read from the storage units corresponding to the various addresses, and XOR operations are sequentially performed on the previously inputted character strings and subsequently read character strings, so that a faulty storage unit can be specifically determined. In this case, an address of the storage unit in which the error occurs can be recorded, and the reason of the error may be further analyzed so that the faulty storage unit can be repaired. After the repair, the first target memory chip may be tested again, and the process stops until the first target memory chip passes the test and is then used for storing the first test vectors.
It needs to be noted that a manner of testing the first target memory chip is not limited to the foregoing exemplary manner, and the first target memory chip may be tested in any other manner. In addition, the present disclosure is also not limited to using ATE to test the first target memory chip. For example, the BIST circuit may be used to test the first target memory chip. Alternatively, the ATE and the BIST circuit may be used together to test the first target memory chip. Alternatively, another electronic device having a test function may be used to test the first target memory chip.
In this embodiment of the present disclosure, the first test vector may be any one or more of a scan test vector, a function test vector, and the like, a corresponding test vector may be generated according to a control logic that needs to be implemented and a circuit structure of the control chip, and the type and the number of the test vectors are not limited in the present disclosure.
In step S220, the first test vectors are sent to the control chip.
In this embodiment of the present disclosure, the ATE or the BIST circuit sends the first test vectors read from the first target memory chip to the control chip. For example, the
ATE or the BIST circuit may include a timing generation circuit, configured to generate a test clock signal, and sequentially send the first test vectors to the control chip based on the test clock signal.
In step S230, first output information returned by the control chip in response to the first test vectors is received.
In this embodiment of the present disclosure, after receiving the first test vectors sent by the ATE or the BIST circuit, the control chip processes the first test vectors, to generate corresponding first output information, and then returns the first output information to the ATE or the BIST circuit.
In step S240, a first test result of the control chip is acquired based on the first output information and the first test vectors corresponding to the first output information.
In an exemplary embodiment, the method may further include: sending the first test result of the control chip to a third target memory chip for storage.
In an exemplary embodiment, the method may further include: sending a first control instruction to the third target memory chip when the test of the control chip is completed; and receiving the first test result of the control chip returned by the third target memory chip in response to the first control instruction.
In this embodiment of the present disclosure, in a test process of the control chip, the ATE or the BIST circuit may first temporarily store the first test result in the third target memory chip. In this way, the test result does not occupy a storage space during the test. After the entire test of the control chip is completed, the ATE or the BIST circuit then reads the first test result back from the third target memory chip. The first test result may be analyzed in combination with the overall test result to locate the reason and position of an error, so that the faulty control chip can be repaired or replaced.
In an exemplary embodiment, the control chip, the first target memory chip, and the third target memory chip may belong to the same storage device.
In an exemplary embodiment, the first target memory chip and the third target memory chip may be vertically stacked in sequence on the control chip. In some other embodiments, the first target memory chip and the third target memory chip may be vertically stacked in sequence under the control chip. In other embodiments, the first target memory chip and the third target memory chip may be vertically stacked. The first target memory chip and the third target memory chip that are vertically stacked may be horizontally interconnected to the control chip. In still other embodiments, the first target memory chip, the third target memory chip, and the control chip may be horizontally distributed on the storage device. This is not limited in the present disclosure.
In an exemplary embodiment, the control chip may belong to a second target memory chip, and the first target memory chip, the second target memory chip, and the third target memory chip may be of the same type or different types. In some embodiments, the first target memory chip, the second target memory chip, and the third target memory chip may respectively belong to different storage devices, or some of the first target memory chip, the second target memory chip, and the third target memory chip may belong to the same storage device, or some other of the first target memory chip, the second target memory chip, and the third target memory chip belong to different storage devices. This is not limited in the present disclosure.
In this embodiment of the present disclosure, after acquiring the first output information returned by the control chip, the ATE or the BIST circuit compares the first output information with the first test vectors or reference data corresponding to the first test vectors, to acquire a first test result of the control chip. For example, it is assumed that the test of an AND gate including two input terminals and one output terminal in the control chip is used as an example. Inputted first test vectors are sequentially “11”, “01”, “10”, and “00”. Corresponding reference data is sequentially “1”, “0”, “0”, and “0”. If the first output information is also “1”, “0”, “0”, and “0”, it indicates that the AND gate in the control chip passes the test, or otherwise, it indicates that the AND gate in the control chip fails the test. Certainly, an actual test case may be much more complex than this case. This case is only used as example for description herein.
For the test method for a control chip provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure, a first target memory chip other than the ATE can be used for storing first test vectors used for testing the control chip, so that a storage space for test vectors can be enlarged, and a large number of test vectors used for testing the control chip can be all loaded once. In this way, during the test of the control chip, the test speed of the control chip can be increased, the test efficiency can be increased, and the test costs can be reduced.
An example in which a storage device is a DRAM is used below to describe the method provided in the foregoing embodiments.
In the embodiment in
Continuing to refer to
The control chip in the embodiment in
In the storage device in a stack form shown in
In the embodiment in
In the first step, ATE tests the DRAM chips 0 to 3. If a problem is found in the test, a faulty storage unit is repaired, to ensure that the DRAM chips 0 to 3 can operate normally.
In the second step, the ATE writes some test vectors used for testing the control chip as first test vectors into the DRAM chips 0 to 3. That is, in the embodiment in
In the third step, the ATE reads the first test vectors from the DRAM chips 0 to 3, and tests a control logic of the control chip.
In the fourth step, the ATE may determine, by reading current states (it is assumed that the storage device further includes DRAM chips other than the DRAM chips 0 to 3) of the DRAM chips, whether to write at the same time the remaining test vectors used for testing the control chip into an idle DRAM chip. In this way, while reading test vectors stored in the DRAM chips 0 to 3, the test vectors can be written into other idle DRAM chips, to further increase the test speed.
In the fifth step, the third step and the fourth step are repeated, until the test of the control chip is completed.
In the sixth step, after the test of the control chip is completed, all test results of the control chip may be acquired. Test results (including a first test result) generated in a test process of the control chip may be alternatively first temporarily stored in the DRAM chip. The DRAM chip used for storing test results herein may be any DRAM chip that is in an idle state and can operate normally after the test. After the whole test of the control chip is completed, the ATE may then read the test results stored in the DRAM chip, and the ATE performs analysis to acquire repair information of the control chip, and repairs a problem part in the control chip based on the repair information.
For the test method for a control chip provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure, DRAM chips located in the same stack may be used for storing test vectors used for testing the control chip. In one aspect, a storage space for test vectors can be enlarged, to help to implement the loading of all test vectors once, so that the test efficiency can be increased, and it is not necessary to load test vectors and perform tests at different times, so that test costs are reduced. In another aspect, the control chip and the DRAM chips belong to the same storage device, a structural form of a vertical stack is used, and a TSV signal interconnection manner or the like may be used, so that test vectors can be read relatively rapidly from the DRAM chips, to further increase the test speed.
In the embodiment in
Similar to the foregoing embodiment in
A difference between the embodiment in
A difference between the embodiment in
In the embodiment in
Similar to the foregoing embodiment in
In all the foregoing embodiments, it is assumed that the first target memory chip and the control chip belong to the same storage device. In the embodiment in
The ATE may be used in advance to test various memory chips in the storage device 1, and an idle memory chip in the storage device 1 is then used as the first target memory chip to store the first test vectors.
In the embodiment in
It needs to be noted that although
In this embodiment of the present disclosure, ATE may send a test instruction to the BIST circuit. The BIST circuit may test, according to the test instruction, whether the functions of the BIST circuit can be correctly implemented, to provide a basis for subsequently using the BIST circuit to test the control chip, so that the accuracy of the test can be increased. In other embodiments, the test instruction is not limited to being sent by the ATE, and may be alternatively sent by any other electronic device. For example, a computer may generate a test instruction and send the test instruction to the BIST circuit. This is not limited in the present disclosure.
In this embodiment of the present disclosure, the BIST circuit may include a BIST Config circuit. The ATE may send a configured initialization instruction to the BIST Config circuit, to initialize the BIST circuit. For example, an operating frequency of the BIST circuit for testing the control chip may be configured, so that a corresponding low-speed or high-speed test clock signal can be generated. In another example, an operating mode or the like of the BIST circuit may be configured.
In this embodiment of the present disclosure, the BIST circuit reads first test vectors from a first target memory chip. The first test vectors herein are some or all of test vectors used for testing the control chip, and are stored in the first target memory chip in advance.
In this embodiment of the present disclosure, the ATE or the computer may first use a test vector generation algorithm to generate test vectors used for testing the control chip, and the computer may then send the test vectors to the ATE, or the ATE directly generates test vectors and then sends some or all of the test vectors to the first target memory chip for storage. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the BIST circuit may include a test vector generation circuit. After receiving a second control instruction that is from the ATE and is used for triggering the control chip to start the test, the test vector generation circuit in the BIST circuit may be used to generate test vectors used for testing the control chip. The BIST circuit then sends some or all of the generated test vectors as the first test vectors to the first target memory chip for storage.
In this embodiment of the present disclosure, before the first test vectors are stored in the first target memory chip, it needs to be ensured that the first target memory chip can implement a correct storage function. Therefore, before this, the ATE may be first used to test the first target memory chip. When the first target memory chip passes the test, it indicates that the first target memory chip is intact, and in this case, the first test vectors may be stored in the first target memory chip. Alternatively, the BIST circuit may be used to analyze test results to acquire repair information, and the BIST circuit repairs the control chip. This is not limited in the present disclosure.
Specifically, if there are at the same time a plurality of memory chips that pass the test and can be normally used, states of various memory chips may be saved. For example, current states of the various memory chips may be recorded in a Config circuit of the BIST circuit. A memory chip in an idle state is used as the first target memory chip to store some or all of the test vectors used for testing the control chip.
In this embodiment of the present disclosure, the BIST circuit sends the first test vectors read from the first target memory chip to the control chip. For example, the BIST circuit may include a timing generation circuit, configured to generate a test clock signal, and sequentially send the first test vectors to the control chip based on the test clock signal.
In this embodiment of the present disclosure, after receiving the first test vectors sent by the BIST circuit, the control chip processes the first test vectors, to generate corresponding first output information, and then returns the first output information to the BIST circuit.
In this embodiment of the present disclosure, after acquiring the first output information returned by the control chip, the BIST circuit compares the first output information with the first test vectors or reference data corresponding to the first test vectors, to acquire a first test result of the control chip.
In the embodiment in
In other embodiments, various DRAM chips such as the DRAM chips 0 to 3 may be vertically stacked in sequence with each other. The control chip and the BIST circuit in the control chip may be horizontally interconnected to the various DRAM chips by TSV adapter plates.
In the embodiment in
In the first step, the ATE tests the DRAM chips 0 to 3. If a problem is found in the test, a faulty storage unit is repaired, to ensure that the DRAM chips 0 to 3 can operate normally.
In the second step, the ATE tests whether a function of a BIST circuit in the control chip is correct, to ensure that the BIST circuit can run normally.
The execution order of the first step and the second step may be interchanged, or the first step and the second step may be performed in parallel.
In the third step, the ATE writes some or all of test vectors used for testing the control chip as first test vectors into the DRAM chips 0 to 3.
In the fourth step, the ATE initializes the BIST circuit by using a BIST Config circuit, including setting a speed (low speed/high speed test clock), setting an operating mode, and the like.
The execution order of the third step and the fourth step may be interchanged, or the first step and the second step may be performed in parallel.
In the fifth step, the BIST circuit reads the first test vectors from the DRAM chips 0 to 3, and tests a control logic of the control chip.
In the sixth step, the ATE may determine, by reading current states (it is assumed that the storage device further includes DRAM chips other than the DRAM chips 0 to 3) of the DRAM chips in the BIST Config circuit, whether to write at the same time the remaining test vectors used for testing the control chip into an idle DRAM chip. In this way, while reading test vectors stored in the DRAM chips 0 to 3, the test vectors can be written into other idle DRAM chips, to further increase the test speed.
In the seventh step, the fifth step and the sixth step are repeated, until the test of the control chip is completed.
In the eighth step, after the test of the control chip is completed, all test results of the control chip may be acquired. Test results (including a first test result) generated in a test process of the control chip may be alternatively first temporarily stored in the DRAM chip. The DRAM chip used for storing test results herein may be any DRAM chip that is in an idle state and can operate normally after the test. After the whole test of the control chip is completed, the BIST circuit may then read the test results stored in the DRAM chip, and the BIST circuit performs analysis to acquire repair information of the control chip, and repairs a problem part in the control chip based on the repair information.
For the test method for a control chip provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure, DRAM chips located in the same stack may be used for storing test vectors used for testing the control chip. In one aspect, a storage space for test vectors can be enlarged, to help to implement the loading of all test vectors once, so that the test efficiency can be increased, and it is not necessary to load test vectors and perform tests at different times, so that test costs are reduced. In another aspect, the control chip and the DRAM chips belong to the same storage device, a structural form of a vertical stack is used, and a TSV signal interconnection manner or the like may be used, so that test vectors can be read relatively rapidly from the DRAM chips, to further increase the test speed. In addition, a BIST circuit in the control chip is used to implement the test of the control chip, so that the degree of dependence on ATE can be reduced, and only a small number of DA pads are needed to implement indirect test of the control chip by ATE without being limited by the number of peripheral pins of a storage device.
In the embodiment in
A difference between the embodiment in
In the embodiment in
In the embodiments in
In some other embodiments, various DRAM chips, for example, the DRAM chips 0 to 3 and the control chips may all be horizontally distributed on a substrate of a storage device. The BIST circuit may also implement the test of the control chip. For a test manner of the control chip, reference may be made to other embodiments. That is, the first test vectors are read from the first target memory chip (for example, the DRAM chips 0 to 3).
A difference between the embodiment in
A difference between the embodiment in
A difference the embodiment in
In all the foregoing embodiments, it is assumed that the first target memory chip and the control chip belong to the same storage device. In other embodiments, the first target memory chip and the control chip may belong to different storage devices. For example, it is assumed that the first target memory chip belongs to a storage device 1, and the control chip belongs to a storage device 2. When the BIST circuit in the control chip needs to implement the test of the control chip in the storage device 2, the first test vectors may be read from the first target memory chip in the storage device 1 for test. The ATE or the BIST circuit in the storage device 2 may be used in advance to test various memory chips in the storage device 1, and an idle memory chip in the storage device 1 is then used as the first target memory chip to store the first test vectors.
In other embodiments, the storage device 1 may also include a control chip. The BIST circuit may also be disposed in the control chip in the storage device 1, and the BIST circuit in the control chip in the storage device 1 may also implement the test of the control chip in the storage device 1.
In some other embodiments, the storage device 1 may also include a control chip. No BIST circuit may be provided in the control chip in the storage device 1. In this case, the BIST circuit in the storage device 2 may also be reused to implement the test of the control chip in the storage device 1 in parallel, so that the test efficiency of the control chips in the storage device 1 and the storage device 2 can be increased, a circuit occupation volume of the storage device 1 can be reduced, and the reuse of the BIST circuit can be implemented.
It needs to be noted that the storage device 1 may alternatively include a plurality of storage devices. The first target memory chip includes a plurality of memory chips. The plurality of memory chips may be distributed on the plurality of storage devices. In this case, some of the plurality of storage devices may include a BIST circuit, and some of the plurality of storage devices may not include a BIST circuit. Alternatively, none of the plurality of storage devices may include a BIST circuit. A storage device 1 that does not include a BIST circuit may reuse the BIST circuit in the storage device 2 including the BIST circuit to implement the test of the control chip of the storage device 1.
As shown in
In step S1710, second test vectors stored in ATE are read.
In this embodiment of the present disclosure, some test vectors may be stored in a first target memory chip, or some other test vectors may be stored in an internal memory space of the ATE are referred to as the second test vectors herein. In this way, a vector storage space may further be enlarged.
In step S1720, the second test vectors are sent to the control chip.
In this embodiment of the present disclosure, during the test of the control chip, the ATE or the BIST circuit may read the stored second test vectors from the internal memory space of the ATE, and then send the second test vectors to the control chip.
In step S1730, second output information returned by the control chip in response to the second test vectors is received.
Similarly, after receiving the second test vectors, the control chip processes the second test vectors to generate second output information and return the second output information to the ATE or the BIST circuit.
In step S1740, a second test result of the control chip is acquired based on the second output information and the second test vectors corresponding to the second output information.
In this embodiment of the present disclosure, the ATE or the BIST circuit compares the second output information with the second test vectors or reference data corresponding to the second test vectors, that is, the ATE or the BIST circuit may acquire a second test result of the control chip. A first test result and the second test result are both constituent parts of the test result of the control chip.
For example, as shown in
In an exemplary embodiment, the method may further include: sending the first test result of the control chip to a third target memory chip for storage. In other embodiments, the second test result may be alternatively sent to a third target memory chip for storage. The third target memory chip herein may be any memory chip used for storing some or all of the test results. In this way, another memory chip is used for storing some or all test results, and in a test process, the storage of test vectors is not affected due to generation of a large number of test results, so that the test speed can be further increased.
In an exemplary embodiment, the control chip, the first target memory chip, and the third target memory chip may belong to the same storage device.
In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the first target memory chip and the third target memory chip may be vertically stacked in sequence on or under the control chip. For example, as shown in
In the embodiment in
Similarly, although the DRAM chips 0 to 3 in the embodiment in
In other embodiments, the BIST circuit may send the first test result to the ATE for storage. In this way, subsequently, it is not necessary to read the first test result from the third target memory chip.
It may be understood that a memory space of any idle ATE tester and the memory chips may be designated to store test vectors, or a memory space of any idle ATE tester and the memory chip may be designated to store test results. This is not limited to the foregoing exemplary description.
In the embodiment in
In the embodiment in
It needs to be noted that the storage device 1 and the storage device 3 in the embodiment in
In the embodiment in
In some other embodiments, the third target memory chip and the control chip may alternatively belong to the same storage device. The first target memory chip may be located on another storage device. In still some embodiments, the first target memory chip and the control chip may be located on the same storage device, and the third target memory chip is located on another storage device, and the like. The BIST circuit in the storage device 2 may also be reused to test the control chip in the storage device 1 in parallel.
For the test method for a control chip provided in the embodiments of the present disclosure, in one aspect, a memory chip that has passed a test is used to implement distributed storage of test vectors used for testing the control chip, thereby enlarging a vector storage space. In another aspect, a BIST technology is used to implement self-test of the control chip, so that test costs can be reduced, the time required for the test is shortened, the automation of a design for testing can be implemented, and a test algorithm is automatically implemented, thereby achieving the objectives of high test quality and low test costs. Next, a BIST circuit is close to the control chip under test to readily implement a full-speed test, so that more generated defects are covered and the test time is reduced. The method may further provide each storage unit with a self-diagnosis function and a self-repair function.
In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the control chip 1 and the first target memory chip 3 may belong to the same storage device. In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the first target memory chip 3 may be vertically stacked on or under the control chip 1.
In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the control chip 1 may belong to a second target memory chip, and the first target memory chip 3 and the second target memory chip may be of the same type or different types.
In an exemplary embodiment, the test apparatus 2 may further include: a second test vectors reading unit, which may be configured to read second test vectors stored in ATE; a second test vectors sending unit, which may be configured to send the second test vectors to the control chip; a second output information receiving unit, which may be configured to receive second output information returned by the control chip in response to the second test vectors; and a second test result acquiring unit, which may be configured to acquire a second test result of the control chip based on the second output information and the second test vectors corresponding to the second output information.
In an exemplary embodiment, the test apparatus 2 may further include: a first test result storage unit, which may be configured to send the first test result of the control chip to a third target memory chip for storage.
In an exemplary embodiment, the test apparatus 2 may further include: a first control instruction sending unit, which may be configured to send a first control instruction to the third target memory chip when the test of the control chip is completed; and a first test result receiving unit, which may be configured to receive the first test result of the control chip returned by the third target memory chip in response to the first control instruction.
In an exemplary embodiment, the control chip, the first target memory chip, and the third target memory chip may belong to the same storage device. In an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, the first target memory chip and the third target memory chip may be vertically stacked in sequence on or under the control chip.
In an exemplary embodiment, the control chip may belong to a second target memory chip, the first target memory chip, the second target memory chip, and the third target memory chip may be of the same type or different types.
In an exemplary embodiment, the test apparatus 2 may further include: a test vector acquiring unit, which may be configured to acquire test vectors used for testing the control chip; and a first test vector forwarding unit, which may be configured to store, in response to a second control instruction, at least some of the test vectors used for testing the control chip as the first test vectors in the first target memory chip.
In an exemplary embodiment, the test apparatus 2 may further include: a current state acquiring unit, which may be configured to acquire a current state of a fourth target memory chip; and a fourth storage determining unit, which may be configured to store at least other part of the test vectors used for testing the control chip in the fourth target memory chip if the current state of the fourth target memory chip is an idle state.
In an exemplary embodiment, the test apparatus 2 may further include: a test vector acquiring unit, which may be configured to acquire test vectors used for testing the control chip; and a test vector dump unit, which may be configured to: send at least some of the test vectors used for testing the control chip as the first test vectors to the control chip, to determine the first target memory chip by using the control chip, and send the first test vectors to the first target memory chip for storage.
In an exemplary embodiment, the test apparatus 2 may further include: a storage chip testing unit, which may be configured to test the first target memory chip; and a storage chip repairing unit, which may be configured to repair the first target memory chip if the first target memory chip fails the test. In an exemplary embodiment, the test apparatus 2 may be disposed in the ATE.
Further, an embodiment of the present disclosure further provides an electronic device. The electronic device may include: one or more processors; and a storage apparatus, configured to store one or more programs, where the one or more programs, when performed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to implement the method in the foregoing embodiments. Further, an embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a computer-readable storage medium, storing a computer program, where the program is executed by a processor to implement the method in the foregoing embodiments. For other content, reference may be made to the foregoing method embodiments.
Other embodiments of the present disclosure will be easily conceived by those skilled in the art after taking the Description into consideration and practicing the solution disclosed herein. The present application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptive changes of the present disclosure. These variations, uses, or adaptive changes follow the general principles of the present disclosure and include common general knowledge or conventional technical means in the art that are not disclosed herein. The Description and the embodiments are to be regarded as being exemplary only. The true scope and spirit of the present disclosure are subject to the appended claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
202010167247.8 | Mar 2020 | CN | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/CN2020/121299 | 10/15/2020 | WO | 00 |