Title :
Influence of Bit-Line Coupling and Twisting on the Faulty Behavior of DRAMs
Author :
AL-Ars, Zaid ; Hamdioui, Said ; Van de Goor, Ad J. ; Al-Harbi, Sultan
Author_Institution :
Lab. of Comput. Eng., Delft Univ. of Technol.
Abstract :
With the continued advances in miniaturization, bit-line (BL) coupling is becoming ever more influential on the memory behavior. This paper discusses the effects of BL coupling on the faulty behavior of defective dynamic RAMs. It starts with an analytical evaluation of coupling effects, followed by a simulation-based fault analysis using a Spice simulation model. Two BL coupling mechanisms are identified (pre-sense and post-sense coupling), which are found to have a partly opposing effect on the faulty behavior. It is shown that BL coupling causes a special kind of coupling fault between adjacent memory cells. In addition, the influence of BL twisting on the faulty behavior of the memory is analyzed and simulated. The results indicate strong correspondence between theory and simulation and show the importance of Spice simulation as a vital tool for fault analysis
Keywords :
DRAM chips; SPICE; fault simulation; integrated circuit testing; DRAM; Spice simulation model; bit-line coupling; bit-line twisting; coupling effects; fault analysis; memory testing; Analytical models; Capacitors; Circuit faults; Crosstalk; DRAM chips; Fault diagnosis; Noise cancellation; Random access memory; Switches; Testing; BL twisting; Bit-line (BL) coupling; defect simulation; dynamic RAM (DRAM); fault analysis; memory testing;
Journal_Title :
Computer-Aided Design of Integrated Circuits and Systems, IEEE Transactions on
DOI :
10.1109/TCAD.2006.882492
